
Class L32*f7 & 



Book. 



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SCHOOL FEEDING 

ITS HISTORY AND PRACTICE 
AT HOME AND ABROAD 

BY 

LOUISE STEVENS BRYANT 

M 

Of the Psychological Clinic, University of Pennsylvania 



WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY 
P. P. CLAXTON 

United States Commissioner of Education 



J<5 FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS AND 
6 CHARTS IN TEXT 




J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY 

PHILADELPHIA AND LONDON 



-; 



i 



v^ 



COPYRIGHT, 1 9 13 
BY J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY 



PUBLISHED, FEBRUARY, 1913 



• « «• 



PRINTED BY J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANI 

AT THE WASHINGTON SQUARE PRESS 

PHILADELPHIA, U.S.A. 



©CI.A343250 



TO 

DR. LIGHTNER WITMER 

IN APPRECIATION OF HIS WORK 
FOR "ORTHOGENICS," THE NORMAL 
DEVELOPMENT OF EVERY CHILD 



THE STATE, THE SCHOOL, AND 
CHILD WELFARE 

The main principle which should guide us in 
discussing the question of the State and Child Wel- 
fare, I consider, is that the State looks after the 
child primarily because he is a child, and not because 
he is destitute or sick or criminally inclined. There- 
fore it behoves us not to wait until one or more 
of these calamities overtakes him before we super- 
vise his upbringing. This principle was half con- 
ceded by the establishment of an Education Author- 
ity. Half only, for until lately the child's parents 
still had to be destitute before the State concerned 
itself in any way with his bodily needs. Years of 
experience, however, in the teaching of underfed 
children have brought home to our people the fact 
that we cannot separate mental and bodily welfare. 

The prolonged controversy over the feeding of 
school children has led to the acceptance of a second 
principle of action: that the welfare of the child 
should be looked after by one authority only — i.e., 
that the necessary feeding should be undertaken by 
the School Authority, and not by the Poor Law 
Guardians. 

It seems to me that the adoption by the Legislature 



SCHOOL FEEDING 

of these two principles makes it both inevitable and 
desirable that all public provision for children of 
school age, whether destitute or not, should be en- 
trusted entirely to the Education Authority. It has 
become impossible to defend the practice of allowing 
the responsibility for a child's welfare to shift auto- 
matically from the shoulders of the Education 
Authority to those of the Destitution Authority and 
back again, according as the parents' means sink 
below a vaguely defined line or rise above it. 

I would add a reminder that the only way of 
enforcing the natural and proper responsibility of 
the parent for the general welfare of his child is 
to set up a definite standard of mental and bodily 
nurture and to insist that no child shall receive less 
upon any excuse whatsoever. Without such a stand- 
ard it is impossible for the State to make any clear 
demand upon the parent to do his duty. With it 
the State can really insure the health and efficiency 
of its future citizens. 

Finally, let me repeat the first principle that the 
child must be looked after because he is a child, and 
must never be sacrificed for the sake of " improv- 
ing " the moral character of his parents, however 
much they may need it. If someone must suffer, it 
is but common-sense to urge that it should be the 
present generation, not the future one. — Beatrice 
Webb, in "The Child," January, 191 1. 



PREFACE 

This book deals, first, with the history and present 
status of legislation concerning and administration 
of meals in public elementary schools in all coun- 
tries,, and, second, with the physiological aspects of 
malnutrition during the growing period, its causes, 
classification, results, the basis of school dietetics 
on the food needs of the growing child and the scien- 
tific construction of menus to fulfil these. Most of 
this is brought together for the first time and the 
presentation is non-technical. The sources were 
many, for the most part answers to letters of inquiry 
and official documents and reports. 

Material on high school lunches has been omitted 
because this presents quite different problems in 
education and administration and because the sub- 
ject has already been widely exploited. 

The treatment is primarily informational, con- 
troversial matter having been eliminated as far as 
may be. 

During the course of the work, which occupied 
nearly three years, I had the most cordial co-opera- 
tion of many people. My thanks are especially due 
to the following individuals : Dr. Leonard P. Ayres, 
Dr. Luther Gulick of New York, Mr. H. H. Bon- 
nell, Miss Alice C. Boughton, Miss Mary Leeds of 



PREFACE 

Philadelphia, Dr. Mary Schwartz Rose of Co- 
lumbia University, Dr. Ira S. s Wile, Miss Kittredge 
and other members of the New York School Lunch 
Committee, Miss Haisler and Superintendent 
Pearse of Milwaukee, Dr. Meyerding of St. Paul, 
Miss Small of Buffalo, Mrs. Hotchkin of Roches- 
ter High School, Miss Cook of Syracuse; and in 
foreign countries to Miss Helene Simon of Berlin, 
Dr. Gastpar of Stuttgart, Dr. Tonsig of Padua, 
Dr. Erismann of Zurich, Mr. Alexander Schiavi 
of Milan ; and to the following organizations whose 
officers* responses to requests for assistance often 
involved the special gathering of material and pho- 
tographs at obvious cost of time and effort: The 
American Institute of Social Service, The Nutrition 
Laboratory of Columbia University, The Sheffield 
Scientific School of Yale, The Boston Home and 
School Society, The Philadelphia Home and 
School League, The British Institute of Social 
Service, the Education Committee of Bradford, 
England ; the London County Council, Zentralstelle 
fur Volkswohlfahrt, Berlin; to the Prefects of the 
Departments of France and to the French Consulate 
of New York City, Det Sociale Sekretariat and Bib- 
liotek, Copenhagen; Centralverein zur Bekostigung 
armer Schulkinder in Wien (Vienna), Austria-Hun- 
gary; Central Bureau voor Sociale Adviezen, Am- 
sterdam ; Central forbundet for socialt arbete, Stock- 
holm, Sweden, and to Zentralstelle fur Soziale Lit- 
eratur, Zurich, Switzerland, 



CONTENTS 



PAGE 

Preface v 

Introduction 9 

I 

History and Present Status of the School Feeding 
Movement 13 

II 
Physical Deterioration and Malnutrition in England 22 

III 

Provision of Meals in the Public Elementary Schools 
of Great Britain 43 

IV 
The Cantines Scolaires of France 77 

V 
School Meals in German Municipalities 99 

VI 
School Feeding in Other European Countries 130 

VII 
Lunches in American Elementary Schools 147 

VIII 
Provision of Meals in Open Air Schools 184 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 
IX 

Investigations of Underfeeding among American 
School Children 196 

X 

Malnutrition in Childhood: Its Symptoms, Causes, 
Results and Classification 211 

XI 
The Food Needs of Growing Children 233 

XII 
School Menus. 248 

Bibliography (Annotated) 261 

Appendices, A, B, C, D, E, F, G 299 

Index 333 



TABLES 



PAGE 

Investigation of Ill-Nourished Children, Manchester, 1904. 37 
Number of Children Attending Meals and Number of Meals 

Served in Years from 1907-08 to December, 19 10 62 

Provision of Meals in English Schools, Financial Summary, 

1908-1 1 64 

Causes of Malnutrition 125 

Sample Recipe Card Showing Constituents and Fuel Values 

of Ingredients 156 

M onthly Account Sheet in Use for Philadelphia Lunches. . . 157 
Daily Record Card Kept by Saleswoman at School Lunch. . 158 
Average Gains of Children Attending Lunches Voluntarily 
for Six Months Compared with Average Gains of Chil- 
dren Not Attending the School Lunches 161 

Average Gains During Three Months of Children Fed Reg- 
ularly Compared with Average Gains of a Similar Group 

of Children Not Fed Regularly 162 

Showing Comparative Marks in Lessons and Conduct at 
Three Months' Interval of Fed with Unfed Group of 

Children 162 

Food Used in One School Month — Syracuse Open- Air School 
— Showing Money-Cost and Food Value. Twenty 

Meals, Twenty-five Children 192 

Investigation of Underfeeding in Chicago 203 

Relation between Income and Underfeeding in American 

Workingmen's Families 206 

Incomes of Families of Underfed Children 207 

Housing of Underfed School Children 209 

Average Height and Weight of All Children from 5-18 Years, 

According to Housing 220 

Relation of Nutrition and Vulnerability to Disease 228 

Daily Food Needs of the Average Child, Age 10, Weight 
27-29 kilos 243 



TABLES 

Showing Amounts of Various Foodstuffs Considered Neces- 
sary at Different Meals for the Average School Child 
Weighing 27-28 Kilos 245 

Comparison of Distribution of Food Constituents and 
Values in the Three Daily Meals Under Conditions of 
Good Home Feeding with Distribution When School 
Meals Supplement Poor Home Feeding 246 

Comparative Food Value of Lunches Purchased by Children 249 

Food Values Purchased by One Cent 250 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



PAGE 

Rochester High School Students at Lunch 18 ^ 

Full Tables. Bristol, England 46 ^ 

School Dining-Room. Bristol, England 46 ^ 

Charging Oven. Bradford, England 58 V 

Interior of Motor Wagon. Bradford, England 58 

Filling Food Vessels with Soup and Rice Pudding. 

Bradford, England 66 

Cutting Bread and Mincing Parsley. Bradford, 

England 66 

Washing up After New York School Lunch 148 v 

Preparation of New York School Lunch 

Serving and Waiting in Line. New York City 

Three-Cent Dinner in Philadelphia Schools 

Lunch Room Equipped and Supported by Mothers' 

Club, Philadelphia 

Just to Show How it Looks. Three-Cent Dinner, 

Philadelphia 

Kindergarten Children. Three-Cent Dinner, Phila- 
delphia 

The Principal Eats Dinner Each Day with the Chil- 
dren in this Philadelphia School 

The First School Lunch in Pittsburg 

Special Class of Mentally Defective Children at 

Lunch 

Ready to Serve Rural School Lunch. Minnesota 

Cooking Corps in Minnesota Rural School 

Warm Lunch Equipment of One-Room Rural School, 

Minnesota 

Children at Lunch. Open-Air School, Orange, N. J. 

Open- Air School, Syracuse, N. Y 

The Waiting Line, Buffalo, N. Y 200 ' 

A Happy Boy. A Big Meal. Indianapolis 200 

Noon Lunch in Two Buffalo Schools 206 v 



48 

50 
54 

60 

62 

62 

66 
66 IS 

74 
76 

76 {/ 

78 
90 
90 



CHARTS AND DIAGRAMS 



PAGE 

I Diagram: Average Increase in Weight of Children in 

Bradford School Feeding Experiment Dur- 
ing 25 Weeks 52 

II Chart: Average Weights of One-room, Two-room, 

Three-room and Four-room Children at each 
Age from Five to Fourteen 221 

III Table: Relative Weight and Height Table, Boys. 

American Standard Measurements 223 

IV Table: Relative Weight and Height Table, Girls. 

American Standard Measurements 224 

V Chart: Daily Food Needs in Grams of School Children 

of Varying Ages and Weights 241 

VI Chart: Average Purchasing Power of One Cent Spent 

for Unplanned Lunch, Contrasted with Pur- 
chasing Power if Spent for School Lunch . . 251 



INTRODUCTION 

More and more are we coming to understand 
that education is for life, and that physical health 
is essential to full mental and moral development 
and effective living. To* the extent that the body 
fails to serve the will, the will is paralyzed and the 
best emotions rendered useless. Mere good wishes 
can not accomplish much. Little service can be 
rendered by him who stands forever " shivering 
on the brink of action. " The establishment of the 
physical health of children has therefore come to 
be regarded as a most important part of their edu- 
cation. To a very large extent this must depend 
on right habits of eating. Children must have 
food in proper quantities and of the right kind, 
and must eat in the right way at right times. There 
must always be doubt as to the value of the results 
of a school day for the child who is listless from 
want of food or from eating large quantities of 
indigestible or non-nutritious food. 

The custom of providing meals for children at 
school has, in recent years, become well established 
both in America and Europe. In America at least 
the work was begun first in the high schools. For 
several years mid-day meals have been provided 

9 



10 INTRODUCTION 

for high school children in many of our cities and 
larger towns. It is only recently that the more 
important task of providing meals for the smaller 
children has been attempted, except in a very few 
places. At present meals are provided in one or 
more elementary schools in nearly a half -hundred 
cities. In Europe, this work was begun earlier 
than here — in Germany a century and a quarter 
ago — and the school luncheon is now part of the 
daily program in the elementary schools of many of 
the most progressive countries. 

There is little doubt that the school luncheon 
idea, now well rooted in this country, will spread 
very rapidly, especially in our cities. The reasons 
why it should are easily understood. In our large 
cities and smaller industrial towns, many children 
come to school having had little or no breakfast. 
Many have eaten their breakfast at a very early 
hour, some as early as 5 or 6 o'clock, and so become 
hungry and faint before the noon hour. These 
children should have a light, wholesome luncheon 
in the middle of the forenoon. For many there is 
nothing to eat at home if they return there at the 
noon hour. Many who find food at home at the 
noon hour find it cold and must eat it alone. 
Father and mother and the older children of the 
family are in the shops or in the mills. In the 
smaller towns and in country communities many 



INTRODUCTION 11 

children live so far from school they can not go 
home for luncheon and return within the time 
allowed. They must therefore go without luncheon, 
or eat cold, unsuitable food brought from home in 
baskets, buckets, or paper bags. Others who do go 
home for luncheon can do so only by running home, 
bolting their food and hastening back to school. 
In many places in which the parents and older mem- 
bers of the family return for the mid-day meal, it 
is very inconvenient to adjust the meal-time to the 
convenience of the children in school. In some 
cities and towns the school day begins at 8.30 or 9 
o'clock, and continues until 1.30, 2, or 2.30, with 
one or two brief intermissions, usually of only 
fifteen minutes each. Where this practice obtains, 
many children go without food until the school day 
is over, and then go home to a cold luncheon, eaten 
rapidly and in such order as it can be had, losing 
altogether the social value of the meal. I have 
known many school children whose daily schedule 
of meals consisted of a very light breakfast at 6 or 
7, a cold dinner bolted at 2 or 3 o'clock, and supper 
at 6« Again, many parents, instead of providing a 
luncheon for their children at school, give them 
small amounts of money with which to buy food, 
and which the children spend for unwholesome and 
unnutritious stuff sold at large profits from push 
carts and at corner stores. 



12 INTRODUCTION 

These conditions should not — must not — con- 
tinue. The remedy seems to lie in the well-managed 
school luncheon, which can be made wholesome, 
educative, and saving in money, in time, and in 
the health of children. 

Because the movement already started will prob- 
ably continue with accelerated speed, there is all 
the more reason for a book like this which Mrs. 
Bryant has prepared after a long and careful study 
of the subject in all parts of the world. In her 
painstaking correlation and interpretation of the 
facts concerning this great new movement, she has 
rendered a distinct service to the children of 
America and to all who are interested in their 
welfare. 

The book is practical. The information in re- 
gard to what is being done in various countries 
and cities is reliable. Problems not yet solved and 
difficulties not yet overcome are frankly admitted 
and pointed out. The book is not dogmatic. In 
its full descriptions of experiments and clear state- 
ments of results it is illuminating. 

P. P. Claxton. 

Washington, D. C, 
February, 1913. 



SCHOOL FEEDING 



History and Present Status of the School 
Feeding Movement 

School feeding is an educational movement a 
century and a quarter old, national in scope in many 
of the important countries of the world and at the 
present time spreading and developing with wonder- 
ful rapidity. The object of the school feeding move- 
ment is to supply such facilities as will make it 
possible for every child to secure an adequate, whole- 
some noon meal despite the fact that he is attending 
school. The necessity for special provision to se- 
cure this end arises where many of the pupils live 
so far away from the school as to make it impos- 
sible for them to return home at noon, or where 
there is no adequate warm noon meal awaiting 
them if they do return. One or both of these con- 
ditions may result from any one of a most varying 
range of causes. 

13 



14 SCHOOL FEEDING 

They exist in connection with forms of educa- 
tional administration which are otherwise most 
admirable, such as the consolidation of rural schools, 
and single sessions in high schools in sparsely settled 
districts. They are found in densely settled portions 
of great cities, where many mothers are absent from 
home all day at work. At the other end of the 
social scale they occur in the homes of the cultured 
and well-to-do, where parents are frequently absent 
during the mid-day hours engaged in social and 
civic work. 

It is but rarely that these conditions exist in 
any very large proportion of the children's homes, 
but while the proportion is not great, the actual 
number of children affected in each school system 
is frequently very large indeed, and the necessity 
for alleviation then becomes imperative. Society's 
machinery for meeting this need is school feeding. 

GERMANY 

The first provision of school meals of which we 
have record was made in Munich in 1790, when 
municipal soup kitchens were started by Count 
Rumford as part of his international campaign 
against vagrancy. The kitchens were designed to 



SCHOOL FEEDING MOVEMENT 15 

meet the needs of the people of all ages, and from 
the start the school were encouraged to send groups 
of children to them for a warm meal at noon. This 
work was long unorganized but never discontinued, 
and in the seventies the obligation of providing 
meals was put on the school authorities. From this 
ancient beginning the school feeding movement 
spread throughout the German Empire until now it 
is national in scope, and about half of the cities 
contribute to support wholly or in part school break- 
fasts or dinners. 

FRANCE 

School feeding in France began in 1849, when 
the National Guard of the Second District in Paris 
presented to the city the unexpended balance in their 
treasury with the request that it be used to help poor 
children get a schooling. This was the beginning 
of the " Caisses des Ecoles " or school funds which 
were made obligatory throughout the country in 
1882 and are employed among other purposes in 
maintaining the " Cantines Scolaires " or school 
restaurants that are now universal in France. 

ENGLAND 

The founder of school feeding in England was 
Victor Hugo, who in the early sixties provided 



16 SCHOOL FEEDING 

warm meals in his own house in Guernsey for the 
children attending a nearby school, and so gave the 
initial impetus which led to the establishment in 
London in 1866 of " The Destitute Children's Din- 
ner Society." During the next forty years similar 
charitable societies were formed, until in 1905, when 
the Provision of Meals Act was under considera- 
tion, there were in London alone no less than 158 
voluntary organizations for school feeding and a 
total of 360 in England. For the most part these 
societies were conducted by teachers in the differ- 
ent schools with little attempt at central organiza- 
tion and no aim beyond the immediate relief of 
acute distress. 

The Provision of Meals Act, passed in 1906, 
gave the Local Educational Authorities permission 
to instal school restaurants as part of the regular 
school equipment. This resulted in the rapid de- 
velopment of a system similar to the French Can- 
tines, which by March, 1909, had extended over 100 
towns and cities. 

WIDE EXTENT 

From these early beginnings in Germany, France, 
and England, and with the various objects of char- 
itable relief, promoting hygiene and encouraging 



SCHOOL FEEDING MOVEMENT 17 

school attendance, the work of school feeding has 
spread, until now, grown beyond the local issue, 
it has received national recognition and been made 
the subject of national legislation in France, 
Switzerland, Holland, Great Britain, Denmark, and 
Bavaria. It is national in scope with support by 
the municipalities in Germany, Italy, Denmark, 
Sweden, Norway, Finland, Austria, and Belgium. 
It has been started in Spain, Russia, and the United 
States. 

PROMINENCE OF MOVEMENT 

The movement for school feeding is by no means 
an obscure one, and during the past two decades 
has been the subject of serious and extensive in- 
vestigation in most of the countries mentioned. In 
England the Provision of Meals Act came as a 
crystallization of public opinion that had been shap- 
ing for forty years and had been tremendously 
stimulated by the activities of four Parliamentary 
Commissions appointed to investigate the physical 
condition of the people. 

In Germany the problem was first given wide 
publicity in 1890 when a National Congress was 
held to discuss problems concerning vacation colonies 
for school children. At this convention it was 



18 SCHOOL FEEDING 

agreed that if children were to receive permanent 
benefit from their country outings they must be 
assured good food all the year round. In 1897 the 
Social Democrats introduced a bill in the Reichstag 
providing for school feeding in cities, but this was 
defeated on the ground that such a measure would 
increase the migration of the people to the large 
cities. Recently, however, since England has passed 
her national act, the subject has been extensively 
studied in Germany, and there is now serious and 
widespread agitation for national legislation. 

BEGINNINGS IN AMERICA 

As in the case of many other educational ad- 
juncts, the United States has been slow in following 
the lead of the European countries in adopting 
school feeding. Long after it had passed the ex- 
perimental stage in Europe, it was still regarded as 
a startling innovation here. Purely charitable work 
was undertaken as early as 1855, when the Chil- 
dren's Aid Society in New York City began to 
furnish free lunches for the children of the Industrial 
Schools. 

Almost from the beginning of his superintendency 
of the New York schools, Dr. William H. Maxwell 



SCHOOL FEEDING MOVEMENT 19 

has urged the installation of lunches in the ele- 
mentary schools, where all who wish may buy at 
cost a warm, nourishing noon meal. Since 1908 
lunches in the elementary schools have been con- 
ducted by the co-operative efforts of the educational 
authorities and a committee of social workers, 
physicians, and teachers. 

The Starr Center Association started penny 
lunches in two Philadelphia schools over fifteen 
years ago; a work that with the co-operation of 
other societies has continued and grown until at 
present there are more than ten schools with some 
form of school lunch. 

After two years of agitation and investigation, 
the Board of Education in Chicago in the fall of 
1 910 appropriated $1200 for the experiment of 
installing lunches in six city schools. It is too early 
to speak of results. Recent reports show that the 
meals are a success so far as they may be measured 
by the attendance and the children's interest. 

In twenty-seven other cities in fourteen differ- 
ent States, women's clubs, teachers, and school doc- 
tors have organized to introduce lunches in the ele- 
mentary schools, and in at least twenty other places 
the matter is being considered. 



20 SCHOOL FEEDING 

Though there have been no legislative enact- 
ments providing for school lunches in American 
cities, at least one important step in this direction 
has been taken in Massachusetts. This takes the 
shape of a bill favorably reported by the Com- 
mittee on Education of the Lower House in the 
Session of 19 12 and provides that school boards 
shall be empowered to expend school funds for 
the support of lunches in elementary school systems. 

SUMMARY 

1. School feeding began in Germany. It is a 
century and a quarter old in Europe and more 
than half a century old in America. 

2. It is a movement national in scope in fifteen 
important countries. 

3. School feeding is provided for in the national 
legislation of six countries. 

4. The movement has attained great momentum 
in America in the last twenty years, and school 
lunches now constitute a part of the elementary 
schools systems of thirty American cities. 

There is no longer any question as to whether or 
not we must seriously face the school lunch problem. 
School lunches already constitute an important part 



SCHOOL FEEDING MOVEMENT 21 

of the systems of elementary schools in our largest 
American cities, and nothing is more certain than 
that the movement will rapidly extend in the next 
few years. The problem confronting those who 
have at heart the welfare of American public schools 
is no longer " Shall we have school lunches ? " but 
rather, " How may we best guide this movement 
so as to develop all of its potential benefits and at the 
same time avoid possible dangers ? " 



II 

Physical Deterioration and Malnutrition in 

England 

The children of a country are the capital of a country, and 
it is in the use and value of its capital that we may discern a 
nation's wisdom. — Earl Beauchamp, 1902. 

Shortly before the close of the Boer War, 
Major-General Frederick Maurice of the British 
Army startled his countrymen by announcing that 
only two men out of every five who wished to be- 
come soldiers were physically fit for army life. 1 In 
Maurice's own words, it was " a vital matter . . . 
to enquire what is the meaning between the five and 
the two. Does it mean that the class which neces- 
sarily supplies the bulk of the ranks in our army 
consists in this large proportion of men physically 
unfit? If so, what are the causes of this fatal con- 
dition of things, and are they remediable? ,; 

This roused the country to an eager considera- 
tion of its blood and brawn, and a series of search- 

1 Maurice, Sir Frederick, The National Health, in The 
Contemporary Review, January, 1902. See also A. Watt 
Smyth in his " Physical Deterioration, its Causes and the 
Remedy", ch. i. 
22 



DETERIORATION IN ENGLAND 23 

ing investigations into the physical make-up of the 
nation followed. 

Attention was first turned to the schools. Im- 
mediately after the publication of Maurice's state- 
ment the king appointed a commission to find out 
what means of physical training was provided in the 
schools and what further education was needed to 
improve the national physique and to* build up the 
national army. 

The Royal Commission on Physical Training ex- 
amined the opportunities for physical education in 
all grades of institutions from the universities down. 
They came to the conclusion that, so far as the 
elementary schools were concerned, the trouble was 
not with the lack of gymnastic drill, but with the 
bodily condition of the children themselves. In 
many cases they were simply too weak to be trained 
physically. In Edinburgh, for example, where no 
less than 30 per cent, of the children in certain 
districts were under-nourished, it was found that the 
method of gymnastics followed was not only doing 
no good, but actual harm. 

In contrast to the conditions in the regular public 
schools came reports of the rapid development of 
army and navy recruits in the training schools where 



24 SCHOOL FEEDING 

full regular meals were as prominent and important 
a feature as was military drill. Surgeon-General 
Don submitted evidence showing that young boys 
gained from five to seven pounds in weight and an 
inch in chest girth after seven weeks of army life. 

Wherever food was provided as in the case of 
special schools for the physically and mentally de- 
fective, or in industrial schools for truant or neg- 
lected children, physical training was reported to 
have good results. Indeed the children in the in- 
dustrial schools were in many ways the physical 
and mental superiors of children of the same social 
grade in the regular elementary schools. Comment- 
ing on this fact, the Commission said : " These 
institutions certainly give to the boys or girls who 
come under their influence advantages as regards 
physical conditions which are not open to the chil- 
dren of independent and respectable though very 
poor parents." 2 The difference between these two 
classes of children was both marked and painful. 

With this and a mass of similar evidence before 
them, the Commission became convinced that, 
" among the causes which tell against the physical 

a Report of the Royal Commission on Physical Training, 
p. 30, par. 164. 



DETERIORATION IN ENGLAND 25 

welfare of the population, the lack of proper nourish- 
ment is one of the most serious " ; and that " the 
question of the proper and sufficient feeding of 
children is one which has the closest possible con- 
nection with any scheme which may be adopted for 
their physical and equally for their mental work." 
They accordingly recommended the general estab- 
lishment of school lunches for which the children 
would pay a small fee as they had formerly done 
for their instruction. 

Though the evidence presented by the Commis- 
sion on Physical Training was valuable and sug- 
gestive so far as it went, they did not even try to 
answer the question the British public was asking, 
which was, " Is our race deteriorating, and if so 
what are the causes ? " A year later a new in- 
vestigating body, known as the Interdepartmental 
Committee on Physical Deterioration, was ap- 
pointed to study the general social and economic 
causes for the alleged deterioration of certain 
classes, and to point out means of diminishing it. 

The new commission consulted sixty-eight wit- 
nesses, men and women from all parts of Great 
Britain, who were either officially connected with 
the government in school, factory, or town adminis- 



26 SCHOOL FEEDING 

tration, or else members of well-known institutions 
of charity and education, and all of them were 
intimately acquainted with the daily lives of the 
masses of the people; thirty-seven were physicians. 

The first hopeful finding was that there was no 
hereditary taint apparent that might cause a progres- 
sive degeneration of the people. Each new gen- 
eration started life with a new lease of energy. 
But shocking conditions of life were found, that for 
large numbers more than counterbalanced the 
strength at birth. It was upon these conditions and 
the possibility of their betterment that the Com- 
mission dwelt. 

Bad as were the other destructive factors, such 
as congestion of population, unsanitary dwellings, 
involuntary unemployment, infant mortality, drunk- 
enness, etc., none was more prominent than the 
chronic malnutrition, found at all ages, in town and 
country. 

This malnutrition was specially marked among 
school children, although the decrease in breast 
feeding and the absence of a good milk supply were 
responsible for much bad feeding earlier. Never- 
theless people seemed to understand the feeding of 
infants and little children better than that of older 



DETERIORATION IN ENGLAND 27 

ones. When the children began to go to> school they 
were left to shift for themselves at meal times, and 
usually adopted the adult habits of tea and coffee 
and highly seasoned canned food. 

Dr. Eichholz, one of the most prominent wit- 
nesses, declared that the following was a fair de- 
scription of the dietary of thousands of city chil- 
dren: "Their breakfasts are nominally bread and 
tea, and the dinner nothing but what a copper can 
purchase at the local fried fish shops, where the 
most inferior kinds of fish are fried in reeking cot- 
ton-seed oil." Milk and fresh vegetables were un- 
known quantities, while meat was almost lacking, 
except perhaps at the Sunday dinner, when it was 
of a poor quality. In short, the Commission found 
that the food was bad for three reasons : first it 
was insufficient; second it was irregular; third it 
was entirely unsuitable in quality, and was specially 
lacking in cell-building elements. 

At the same time the strain of school work, added 
to the demands of rapid growth, made the subject 
of food during the school period of intrinsic impor- 
tance. Indeed, Dr. Hutchison, the well-known Eng- 
lish dietitian, gave as his opinion that the most 
critical time of a child's life, so far as its nutrition 



28 SCHOOL FEEDING 

goes, is the school period — between ten and fifteen 
years. This being the case, Dr. Hutchison added 
that " looking at it purely scientifically, it would be 
an extremely important thing to ensure to every 
child at school a sufficient and proper meal." 

Few figures were given to> show the precise 
number of children in the schools who* were mark- 
edly affected by bad feeding. Dr. Eichholz made 
the statement that in London there were not fewer 
than 122,000 children who were underfed, that is, 
16 per cent, of the entire school population. In 
Manchester 15 per cent, were reported underfed. 
Dr. Kelly, Roman Catholic Bishop of Ross, asserted 
that, " In the South of Ireland it is commonly the 
case that children come to school underfed.' , There 
was a good deal more similar evidence, mostly in 
the form of general remarks about the wide extent 
of malnutrition in the schools. 

With one exception, the witnesses were agreed 
that bad food was the most serious of all the factors 
making for degeneracy, particularly juvenile de- 
generacy. They agreed with Dr. Eichholz that 
" food is the point about which turns the whole 
problem of degeneracy," and with Dr. Mackenzie, 
that " of the three selective agencies determining 



DETERIORATION IN ENGLAND 29 

national development, housing, occupation, and 
feeding, unquestionably the most important is feed- 
ing." 

Although the poverty and ignorance at the bot- 
tom of malnutrition and other evils might be com- 
bated only by widespread social legislation and 
reform, nevertheless the Commission was convinced 
that the problem as it touched the school might be 
directly attacked, and, like the earlier commission, 
they proposed that school lunches be introduced. 
" We have got to the point," said one witness, 
" where we must face the question whether the 
logical culmination of free education is not free 
meals in some form or other, it being cruelty to force 
a child to go and learn what it has not the strength 
to learn." 

The members of the Commission, however, were 
not in entire agreement with this witness, and they 
therefore suggested that the lunches be maintained 
wherever possible by private funds, and that the 
school authorities should be allowed to interpose 
where these failed, to supply the meals from the 
public funds. 

The situation before the public now was this: 
The two commissions which had started out to 



30 SCHOOL FEEDING 

answer Major General Maurice's question had 
shown that the physical condition of the people at 
large was in need of careful attention. This applied 
most of all to* the food of the people, and to that of 
the children in particular. Both commissions had 
recommended school meals as a partial remedy, and 
as a step in the larger campaign against the forces of 
deterioration. 

It remained to find out just what was the exact 
need for school feeding and what was being done 
already by private individuals in the matter before 
proceeding to organize meals on a public basis. A 
special Commission was appointed to look into the 
matter of medical inspection of schools and the 
voluntary provision of school meals throughout the 
country. The bulk of their attention was devoted 
to the subject of school feeding. They sent in- 
quiries to all the local school authorities through- 
out the country to find out just how many schools 
were equipped with the lunches, and how these were 
run. In addition they examined thirty-five wit- 
nesses, all of whom were actively engaged in the 
work of school feeding, most of them being school 
officers as well. 

The report of this Commission was published in 



DETERIORATION IN ENGLAND 31 

November, 1905. 3 It was found that there were 
no less than 355 separate organizations for school 
feeding in 146 places, town and country, that were 
serving meals of some sort anywhere from three 
weeks in winter to four months, to> about 100,000 
children. Some of these organizations were old — 
the earliest one dating from 1866 in London. 

The Committee on the Medical Inspection and 
Feeding of Children did not attempt to find out how 
many children were in need, nor to estimate the 
efficiency of the existing organizations in meeting the 
need. This was left for the Select Committee that 
considered the Provision of Meals Bill, presented 
in Parliament a few months later, which was de- 
signed to give the schools direct responsibility for 
feeding the children when necessary. 

The Select Committee on the Provision of Meals 
Bill went over the reports of the three earlier com- 
missions, and examined besides twenty-eight wit- 
nesses, all of whom had had experience with school 
meals either as teachers and superintendents, school 
doctors, members of charitable societies, the Society 
for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, etc. 

3 Report of the Interdept. Com. on Med. Inspection and 
the Feeding of Children Attending Public Elementary Schools. 



S2 SCHOOL FEEDING 

As the final passage of the Bill came as a result 
of the findings of this Commission, especially in 
regard to the inadequacy of the existing provisions, 
we shall consider them somewhat in detail. 

VOLUNTARY FEEDING SOCIETIES 

The work of the private societies may be illus- 
trated by the following description given before 
Parliament by Dr. Airy, who had had charge of the 
Birmingham Free Dinners Association for twenty 
years. 4 

" We began with the idea of giving penny din- 
ners to children who could pay for them, thinking, 
in our ignorance, that that would suffice for the 
need of the poor population. We speedily found 
that we were doing a rapidly declining business 
among the wealthier classes, and that there were 
thousands of children who could not pay a penny 
under any circumstances. We therefore reduced 
the price to a halfpenny, still intending them to be 
self-supporting or nearly so. We were then con- 
fronted with the revelation that there were hundreds 
of children in every district in Birmingham who 

* Minutes of Evidence before the Select Committee on the 
Educational (Provision of Mfeals) Bill, 1906, p. 132. 



DETERIORATION IN ENGLAND 33 

could no more pay a halfpenny for a dinner than 
they could find change for half a sovereign. We 
therefore at once determined to give up all idea of 
self-support, and we resolved to make it a charity 
and devote it, until we saw our way a great deal 
further, to keeping alive (I think that is the best 
expression I can use) the very poorest children who 
either got nothing at all for dinner, or, if they got 
anything, only got a bit of bread with a little grease, 
perhaps, scraped on it. We made a careful census 
of the city, and in Birmingham at that date (1886) 
we reckoned that there were from 2,500 to 3,000 
children who were in a normal state of semi-starva- 
tion. In addition to that we had to reckon for 
the margin that there always was from any excep- 
tional cause of unemployment. We did our best to 
(satisfy is hardly the word) meet as far as we 
could the needs of those children." 

The dinners were given only to those children 
who could expect practically nothing at home. The 
relief was further limited by the character of the 
meals which was purposely designed to discourage 
any children not in desperate straits. Besides this 
there was a careful inquiry into the home circum- 
stances of each child. Only those children might 
3 



34 SCHOOL FEEDING 

receive the meals who were passed on by the head 
teacher, the class teacher, and the visiting attend- 
ance officer. In spite of all this, the society normally 
fed 2,500 children in ten different centres each day. 
Some idea of the pressing need may be gathered 
from this additional comment by Dr. Airy : 

" We were much distressed at the fact that the 
children would come a mile or a mile and a half 
to eat this poor dinner, and they would come through 
slush and snow and wet. . . ." 

EFFECTS OF THE MEALS 

The work of the voluntary societies, limited 
though it was, had shown good results, as was 
everywhere asserted by the teachers who volun- 
teered to help in the selection and service of the 
children. In Birmingham, for example, the teachers 
were " unanimous that the system pursued enabled 
the children to do their ordinary school work, and 
they reported that the difference was perfectly ex- 
traordinary." 

Even where the meals were continued only a few 
weeks, the effect was good. One teacher testified: 
" Yes, after a week, I can see difference in a child. 
She becomes less listless, and less fidgety. You can 



DETERIORATION IN ENGLAND 35 

see a much more healthy tone about the skin after a 
fortnight. It is most marked." The teachers' in- 
terest in helping the children was often increased 
by the fact that they found the children so much 
easier to teach after the breakfast or lunch at school. 

Dr. Hall of Leeds, who had for years examined 
children for admission to the factories, and had 
also charge of school feeding in certain schools, 
gave most interesting testimony as to the effect of 
regular meals on children who were seriously under- 
fed. 

He took fifty-five children, between seven and 
eight years old, all considerably below the normal 
weight, and fed them for a fortnight, weighing 
them carefully before and after. In that time they 
gained an average of eighteen ounces (one pound, 
two ounces) apiece. These children were not 
" hungry " ; they had to be persuaded to eat at 
first. Dr. Hall says : " I tell you the slum child is 
not hungry, and will gO' without food if he cannot 
have his stale food, his pickles, liver, and onions 
and blood made up into a sort of pudding. These 
children are evidently to a medical expert underfed. 
Look at them. You have at once the evidence of 
it. You have the ill-nourished skin, the ill-nourished 



36 SCHOOL FEEDING 

hair, the stunted growth, the light weight. Lift up 
the clothes. When I went amongst them first of 
all I thought they were flea-bitten. Nothing of the 
sort. They suffer from purpuric petechiae. I took 
the children and I fed them well. At the end of 
six months there was not a flea-bite. It had all 
disappeared." 5 

INADEQUACY OF VOLUNTARY SOCIETIES I NUMBER 

OF CHILDREN BEING FED VERSUS NUMBER 

IN NEED 

But societies such as those described were not 
able to feed anything like the number needing to be 
fed. For example, in London there were 158 sepa- 
rate organizations feeding something under 30,000 
children, for four months in the winter. This was 
not a quarter of the 122,000 reported to be underfed 
and probably in need all the year. 

In Manchester, Dr. Brown Ritchie examined 
10,180 children taken from all grades in twenty 
schools over the city. The results are shown in 
the following table: 

5 Minutes of Evidence Before the Interdept. Com. on 
Medical Inspection and the Feeding of School Children, 
pp. 203, 204. 



DETERIORATION IN ENGLAND 37 

Table I . Investigation of Ill-Nourished Children, 
Manchester, 1904 6 

Number Badly Very Badly 

Examined Nourished Nourished 

7 worst schools 2,031 610 — 30% 367 — 18% 

13 remaining schools 8,149 1,379 — 17% 806 — 10% 

20 schools 10,180 1,989 — 19% 1,173 — n% 

It will be noted that 1,989 were badly nourished 
and 1,173 were very badly nourished. That is to 
say 3,162 or nearly a third of all those examined 
were below par as to their nutrition. The marked 
cases formed over 10 per cent, of the whole. 

At the time of the investigation only about a fifth 
of the children needing it were being fed at school, 
although there was a well-organized private society 
in Manchester. 

In Bradford, 6,000 children were found by medi- 
cal inspection to be underfed, that is to say, 11 
per cent, of the total school enrolment, while the 
private society was able to feed only 2,000 at most. 
Similar figures were reported from other places, but 
not in sufficient detail to warrant a specific numerical 
statement for the whole country. 

A summary is given by Dr. Crowley of the Lon- 

8 Minutes of Evidence Before the Interdept. Com. on 
Medical Inspection and the Feeding of School Children, 
p. 250. 



38 SCHOOL FEEDING 

don County Council as follows : " These children 
of poor nutrition are very common. . . . Speaking 
for our large towns generally it has been said that 
they constitute approximately 10 to 15 per cent, 
of the whole school population." 7 

VOLUNTARY FUNDS SPORADIC AND INSUFFICIENT 

The real trouble with the voluntary societies was 
that their funds were entirely uncertain. It was 
impossible to raise them steadily enough to plan 
ahead. Several witnesses called attention to the 
fact that people seemed willing enough to give at 
Christmas, or when the weather was very bad, but 
they did not seem able to grasp the fact that the 
children's hunger was not an affair of the weather, 
or even of the time of year. One man, whose busi- 
ness it was to gather funds for several London 
societies, said : " When wage earning people on 
small wages are thrown out, the pinch comes. 
They have no reserve to fall back upon. Then you 
come to February, when the better class of people 
who' have larger reserves are beginning to> sell parts 
of their furniture, to pawn, and so on. They begin 
to feel the pinch then. By that time the stream 

' Crowley, Dr. Ralph H., The Hygiene of School Life, 
p. 16. 



DETERIORATION IN ENGLAND 39 

of charity is very difficult to tap ; it has really ceased 
to flow. It is at Christmas time that you hope to get 
people quickened. A fortnight's really bad cold 
weather will bring money, but when the bright or 
mild muggy weather comes, you may as well appeal 
to the air." 

The difficulty of raising funds was well shown in 
the case of Birmingham, where it was decided in 
1904 that a yearly income of 4500 pounds was 
needed to provide a meal every school day for the 
4500 children in need. The man who out of his 
own pocket had been supplying breakfasts to about 
a thousand very poor children, was asked if he con- 
sidered that there would be any difficulty in raising 
the 4500 pounds " if an appeal were made to the 
people of Birmingham by duly constituted persons.'' 
He replied : " I think there would be more than 
difficulty; I think there would be an impossibility. 
As a subscriber, I have seen the last published 
accounts of the Birmingham Free Dinners Asso- 
ciation. This charity has been in operation from 
fifteen to twenty years, and has had among its 
officers and subscribers some of the most influential 
people in the district. Its total list of subscriptions 
and donations is under 300 pounds per annum, and 
even this includes 75 pounds contributed by teachers 



40 SCHOOL FEEDING 

in the council schools. To raise a sum of from 
4000 pounds to 5000 pounds a year by these means 
seems to me quite hopeless." 

It was obviously unjust to expect that the teachers 
should contribute to the support of the meals 
especially when they were already giving their ser- 
vices, and yet they often did so feeling strongly 
the children's need. 

ADMINISTRATIVE DIFFICULTIES 

Not only were the voluntary societies thus 
hampered at every turn by lack of funds, but there 
were administrative difficulties nearly as bad. Ow- 
ing to the lack of funds the societies were not 
permanent in many cases, and the meals were 
stopped during the summer, though the provision 
was often just as necessary then. 

Again, because of the lack of official regulation, 
there was frequently considerable overlapping of 
effort in certain districts, while others remained neg- 
lected. A third difficulty was that the voluntary 
societies had no means of prosecuting delinquent 
parents on the one hand, nor on the other of assur- 
ing that provision was made for the most needy 
children. 



DETERIORATION IN ENGLAND 41 

SCHOOL FEEDING BY PUBLIC CHARITY 

An attempt was made, shortly after the publica- 
tion of the report of the Committee on Physical 
Deterioration to relieve some of these administrative 
difficulties by means of the " Relief of School 
Children's Order." This was a national order 
which provided that children found to be underfed 
at school were, on application by teachers or super- 
intendents, to be put in charge of the public poor 
officials, and fed free for a month, the cost being 
chargeable to the father as a loan. Where the father 
failed to pay, he was prosecuted for vagrancy or 
cruelty, or else, if he could not pay, he was dis- 
enfranchised as a pauper. 

The results o>f this order were as clumsy as its 
name, and it soon became a dead letter. The school 
authorities objected to the harsh methods of the 
" Guardians of the Poor," and declared that they 
served no good end to education. Parents objected 
even more decidedly and refused to allow their 
children to be fed. Voluntary subscriptions fell off 
at once and as the order limited the relief to the 
absolutely destitute, a great many children not 
technically destitute, but who had been helped be- 
fore, were left unprovided for. 



42 SCHOOL FEEDING 

The order served the purpose, however, of show- 
ing that the provision of meals was a school prob- 
lem and of establishing the principle that to be 
efficient, the provision of meals must be carried out 
under the direction of school authorities. This prin- 
ciple was recognized in the Provision of Meals Act, 
passed December, 1906. 

We have now considered the growth of public 
opinion on the subject of malnutrition of children, 
the awakening of the public conscience by the re- 
ports of the Commissions on Physical Training and 
Physical Deterioration, the careful investigations by 
two other committees on the existing voluntary 
provisions for school feeding, their findings as to 
the inadequacy of these, the unsuccessful attempt to 
deal with the problem by public charity and the final 
crystallization of ideas and opinion in the Provision 
of Meals Act, passed after four years of discussion 
and inquiry. 

The working of the Act, and the present con- 
dition of school feeding in England will be taken 
up in the following chapter. 



Ill 

Provision of Meals in the Public Elementary 
Schools of Great Britain 

The Provision of Meal Act, passed in December, 
1906, virtually transferred the obligation of feeding 
hungry children in the schools of England and 
Wales from charity, public or private, to the local 
educational authorities. 

It did more than provide for the children in ab- 
solute need, and who, in the words of the Act, were 
" unable by reason of lack of food to take full ad- 
vantage of the education afforded them. ,, These 
children, about ten per cent, of all, did not exhaust 
the number who might be benefited by a wholesome 
school lunch. Many more were dependent on hasty, 
cold and irregular meals, snatched at home, or bought 
with pennies at noon at small shops nearby. This 
was bad, not only because these children furnished 
ready recruits for the malnutrition ranks, but be- 
cause bad habits and low standards of food were 
being formed to work future ill. 

The Act was designed to* combat the kind of 

43 



44 SCHOOL FEEDING 

ignorance that gave little children tea and bread 
for breakfast, pickles, fried fish and pastry for lunch, 
and tea, jam and bread for supper. To do this 
required more than sporadic " relief work." It 
meant careful and continuous education of parents 
and children. 

As a step in this needed education, the Act pro 
vided that school funds might be used in the estab- 
lishment of regular school restaurants, where warm, 
wholesome meals might be served daily to all those 
wanting them, at cost to those able to pay, and free 
to those found to be unable to pay. All classes of 
school children might thus be benefited and the 
pernicious small food shops supplanted. 

This object of the Act and the spirit in which it 
was conceived are shown in the following statement 
made by the National Board of Education in the 
circular sent with the Act to each Local Educa- 
tional Authority: 

The Act, which is purely permissive, and imposes no duty 
where a Local Educational Authority think it unnecessary to 
bring it into operation, is primarily of an educational char- 
acter. Its object is to ensure that children attending public 
elementary schools shall, so far as possible, be no longer 
prevented by insufficiency of suitable food from profiting by 
the education offered in our schools, and it aims at securing 
that for this purpose suitable meals shall be available just as 



MEALS IN SCHOOLS 45 

much for those whose parents are in a position to pay as for 
those to whom food must be given free of cost. 

There are five general provisions for the conduct 
of such school restaurants which may be briefly 
summarized as follows: 

i. The meals are to be controlled by special 
committees known as School Canteen Committees, 
on which the local school board must be represented. 

2. The entire cost of equipment and service may 
be borne by the school. 

3. The cost of the food is to be met wherever 
possible by the parents of children receiving the 
meals, or by voluntary contributors. Where money 
from these sources fails, a local tax, not to exceed 
a rate of y 2 &. on the pound, or 2 mills on the dollar, 
may be raised to cover the cost of food. 

4. Wherever a parent, though able, fails to pay 
the cost of the food, this is to be collected sum- 
marily as a civil debt, but its non-payment is never 
to be made a cause for disenfranchisement. 

5. Teachers are never to be required to take any 
part in the organization or service of the meals. 

The Act includes no further details of administra- 
tion. The texts of the Act and that of the circular 
of information above referred to are given in Ap- 
pendices A and B. 



46 SCHOOL FEEDING 

HOW THE ACT HAS WORKED 

The experience in Bradford, a manufacturing 
town with a homogeneous population of 300,000 
and about 60,000 school children, may be taken as 
typical of the way in which British towns generally 
are availing themselves of the provisions of the Act. 

School feeding was not new in Bradford when 
the Act was adopted. The experiment had been 
tried before of supplying the very poorest children 
with food, first through private, and then through 
public charity, but unsuccessfully, because of lack 
of funds, and general administrative difficulties. 
Before attempting to start meals on a large scale, 
therefore, the authorities waited until they had de- 
termined, by definite experiment and investigation, 
first the extent to which the problem of malnutrition 
was immediately pressing, and second, what sort of 
meals should be provided, and what was the best 
method of serving them. 

THE EXTENT OF MALNUTRITION IN BRADFORD 

IN I907 

The first thing was to» find out the number of 
children in the Bradford public schools who were 
in absolute need and because of lack of food were 




FULL TABLES. BRISTOL, ENGLAND 



SCHOOL DINING-ROOM. BRISTOL, ENGLAND. THE USE OF UPPER STORIES 
FOR LUNCH ROOMS IS A HAPPY IDEA 



MEALS IN SCHOOLS 47 

unable to take full advantage of the education pro- 
vided for them. After an examination of the 
physical condition of all the children in the schools, 
Dr. Crowley, the head medical officer, declared that 
from a personal examination of 2000 children he 
estimated that there were at least 6000 children in 
the city who were underfed. This means that 11 
per cent, of the total school enrolment were suffer- 
ing from malnutrition. 

PRELIMINARY EXPERIMENT 

The next step was to determine the probable 
effect of merely feeding these children without alter- 
ing their manner of living in any other way. It was 
important to find out whether the school could help 
matters in the only way open to it — that is by pro- 
viding food of an assured good quality and served 
under wholesome and pleasant conditions, it being 
obviously impossible to enter the homes and change 
the construction of the buildings or the lives of their 
inmates. 

By way of preliminary experiment it was decided 
to feed about forty o>f the most needy children for 
three months with two daily meals carefully planned 
to meet the needs of growing children. Before the 



48 SCHOOL FEEDING 

meals were started, the children were weighed three 
times in five weeks to ascertain their average rate 
of growth. They were fed from April 17 to July 24 
and during that time they were weighed and meas- 
ured once a week and a general account was kept 
of their physical condition. 

At the same time careful records were kept of 
the growth in weight and height of a group of 69 
" control " children who were of the same age and 
general development as the experiment children 
and of the same social class. The meals at school 
constituted the only difference between the two sets 
of children. 

GENERAL CHARACTER OF THE MEALS AND SERVICE 

Breakfast and dinner were provided daily except 
Sunday. The two meals were so planned by the 
school doctors and the director of domestic science 
as to' furnish about three-quarters of the total daily 
ration required by the school child. The elements 
of fat and tissue-building protein were emphasized, 
as it was in these expensive elements that the home 
meals were usually lacking. The children were suf- 
fering not SO' much from a general lack of food as 
from " protein starvation." 



MEALS IN SCHOOLS 49 

The menus of seventeen dinners were made out 
to fulfil the special requirements of the case and 
provided such a variety that it was three weeks 
before any given meal was repeated. The break- 
fasts were not varied from the general scheme of 
oatmeal, milk and bread and butter or molasses. 

Among the seventeen dinners, four were made 
up of substantial soups and boiled or baked jam 
or ginger puddings made with milk and served 
with a sweet sauce ; there were six " vegetarian " 
dinners made without meat, though butter and other 
animal products were used in baked puddings and 
wholemeal cakes. There were six dinners with 
meat and vegetable pie, stew, etc. One dinner was 
especially elaborate, with fish and potato pie, green 
peas and lemon sauce, blancmange and jam. Bread 
was served with all the meals and milk, the most 
valuable source of protein for children, was used 
in nearly all. These menus proved so satisfactory 
in the preliminary test that they are in permanent 
use in the schools of Bradford. 

The cost of the breakfast, including preparation, 
was 2 y* cents ; the average cost of the dinners was 
not quite 3 cents. 

In addition to this care in the choice of food, it 
4 



50 SCHOOL FEEDING 

was served in such a way that the whole effect should 
be educative. There were tablecloths and flowers 
on the table; monitresses were chosen from the 
older children in the school who waited on small 
groups of ten at a table. These monitresses wore 
clean white aprons and sleeves, and received their 
dinners free in return for their services. Most of 
these children had never had any experience in the 
etiquette of the table and yet there was little trouble 
about their behavior, " for children soon respond to 
orderly and decent surroundings." 

TRAINING THE APPETITES 

It was not enough that the meals should be 
nourishing and attractive to the normal palate. The 
children were quite unused to normal food, having 
subsisted largely on canned and fried food, coffee 
and baker's bread. They had seldom tasted milk. 
They had to be taught to like the new tastes. They 
were watched individually from the first. Dr. 
Crowley says : " This is an especially important 
point, and if it be not attended to no system of feed- 
ing can give fully satisfactory results. With a little 
encouragement, by starting with small helpings, by 
not at first unduly pressing what is distasteful and 



MEALS IN SCHOOLS 51 

in other ways, children whom at first it is difficult 
to get to eat can soon be made to do so. These 
children it was found advisable to group together 
at one table, thus permitting of ready supervision." 
When the meals started, only one child of the 
entire group had ever before eaten oatmeal. This 
was a Scotch child. The first day thirteen refused 
to eat it ; by the next day curiosity or imitation had 
conquered all but two, and after that all ate with 
apparent enjoyment and there was much complain- 
ing when the oatmeal was omitted for variation. 
New dishes in the dinners were adopted in the same 
way. 

RESULTS 

Certain good results of the experiment were 
apparent to> all. The children brightened up, their 
general carriage changed from one of listless de- 
pression to alert interest. The teachers reported a 
corresponding improvement in the lessons. 

Aside from these results that cannot be expressed 
in quantitative form, the actual gains in weight are 
shown in graphic form in the following diagram in 
which the fluctuations in weight of the children 
receiving meals are shown by the solid line and the 
total gain of the " control group," by the dotted line. 



52 



SCHOOL FEEDING 



The results may be summarized as follows: 
i. Before the meals began the average weekly 
rate of growth during five weeks was a little over 



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Diagram showing average individual increase in weight of children in Bradford schoc 
feeding experiment during twenty-five weeks. Solid line shows average increases and decrease 
of children receiving meals. Dotted line shows average increase of control children not receiv 
ing meals. (Adapted from Crowley.) 

an ounce apiece. This was about the average weekly 
gain of the control children during the experiment, 
and represents a yearly gain of three pounds and 
five ounces. 



MEALS IN SCHOOLS 53 

2. The children who were fed gained on an aver- 
age of six ounces a week in the first four weeks 
of the experiment. The greatest gain came in the 
first week, when the average was one pound and 
four ounces. After this sudden rise the weights 
remained nearly stationary for a week. The weekly 
gains of the third and fourth weeks were S 1 / 2 an( ^ 
4j4 ounces. 

3. During a holiday of eleven days, from May 16 
to May 27, after four weeks of feeding, the chil- 
dren were not fed, with the result that they lost a 
pound apiece in weight, which it took two weeks 
to regain. 

4. During this same holiday the control children, 
relieved from the strain of school work, gained on 
an average of eight ounces apiece, as opposed to a 
gain of J4 ounce in the next eleven days after the 
vacation. (These variations not shown in chart.) 

5. The net average gain of the experiment chil- 
dren from the beginning of the feeding till the end 
was two pounds and eight ounces. 

6. The total average gain of the control children 
during the same period was one pound and four 
ounces. 

7. At the end of the summer holidays all the 



54 SCHOOL FEEDING 

children were about the same again. An increase 
in weight was again shown in the case of the control 
children, who gained at the rate of 2J/2 ounces a 
week instead of one ounce. 

This experiment showed that the single factor of 
good food could do much even while other con- 
ditions hostile to healthy development remained un- 
changed. Without hesitation, therefore, the school 
authorities made plans for the development of meals 
on a much larger scale. 

PRESENT ORGANIZATION OF SCHOOL CANTEENS IN 

BRADFORD 

To-day the equipment for school meals in Brad- 
ford is probably the finest in the world. The work 
is in the hands of the Canteen Committee, which is 
a sub-committee of the city school board, and com- 
prises head teachers, medical inspectors, visiting 
nurses, and attendance officers. 

SELECTION OF CHILDREN 

All the children may attend the meals, but special 
attention is given to those who are to receive the 
meals free. As a rule the teachers recommend chil- 
dren from their classes who they think are in need 



MEALS IN SCHOOLS 55 

of food. Sometimes the parents apply to the head 
teachers directly. In any case where free meals 
are asked for, the child is immediately given food, 
while the Canteen Committee makes careful inves- 
tigation of home conditions, and on the basis of 
what is found, determines whether the parent shall 
be required to pay the cost of the meal in full or 
partially, or whether the meals are to* be given free. 1 

THE POVERTY SCALE 

Wherever it is found that the total weekly in- 
come of a family falls below 75 cents per head after 
the rent is deducted, the children are considered 
eligible for the free list. Exceptions are made to 
this rule, and the scale is raised in the case of a 
small family, where the expenses are proportionately 
heavier than in a larger one, and in cases where 
there is illness or irregular employment. 

Children of all social grades attend the meals, 
and pay various prices for them, anywhere from 
threepence to halfpenny, according to their ability. 
But no distinction whatever is made between those 
who pay, and those who do not, and the children 
themselves are entirely unaware of the differences. 

1 Appendix B 



56 SCHOOL FEEDING 

PREPARATION AND SERVICE 

The preparation of the meals is under the direc- 
tion of a man who is a professionally trained 
chemist, as well as a first class cook. He has five 
helpers, and together they prepare the meals at one 
central kitchen where there are facilities for prepar- 
ing 10,000 meals a day. Only the most approved 
modern appliances are used, and there is no waste 
either of time or materials in the Bradford kitchen. 
There are large hundred gallon steam- jacketed 
boilers, porcelain baths for washing vegetables, 
potato peelers, dish washers, and other labor-saving 
devices. The city bakes its own bread in large steam 
ovens, heated like the other stoves by the same 
boiler that is used in the heating of the school baths 
nearby. This means that the cooking of the food 
does not cost a penny extra. 

COST OF THE MEALS IN BRADFORD 

The initial cost of the equipment described above 
was $20,000. During the year 1908-09 the total 
expenditure for the meals was $39,600, including 
the salaries for cooks, caretakers, and supervisors, 
the up-keep of the equipment, the cost of administra- 



MEALS IN SCHOOLS 57 

tion and the food. In this year about a million 
meals were served, a quarter of them being break- 
fasts. The total cost of a dinner was 3 cents, the 
food costing 2 and the administration 1 cent. In 
all about 5,500 children attended the meals some- 
time during the year, while the average daily attend- 
ance summer and winter was 2,700. Of these a 
daily average of about 240 children paid either the 
whole cost of the meal or part of it. 

EDUCATIONAL FEATURES OF THE MEALS AND SOME 

OTHER THINGS 

The most important educational feature of the 
meals is that they tend to raise the standard of food 
above that found in the children's homes. This is 
true not only of the food itself, but of the way the 
meals are served. 

The dining halls are painted in fresh, light colors. 
Tablecloths and napkins are provided and the chil- 
dren are encouraged to bring flowers and plants for 
decoration. The teachers eat with the children, and 
are paid for the service of supervision for which 
they volunteer. 

Children from the older classes, particularly from 
classes in domestic economy, wait on the table. The 



58 SCHOOL FEEDING 

aprons and sleeves worn by the " waiters " are made 
and mended by children in the sewing classes. 

The children must wash their hands and faces 
before each meal and other lessons in practical" 
hygiene and cleanliness are given at the same time. 

The food values and the cost of food are taught 
to some of the older children, but this work is not 
confined to the school. Members of the Canteen 
Committee visit the homes and talk to the mothers 
about their children's food and health and encourage 
them to visit the dining rooms at meal time. The 
Education Committee has also published little 
pamphlets which are distributed among the mothers 
giving the recipes of the dinners used at school, 
with the cost of the ingredients, and directions for 
preparing them for families of seven. 

So far the results reported have been favorable, 
not only as regard the children's health and physical 
development, but their manners and conduct as well. 
When asked after one year if in general and in any 
or all of these particulars the teachers had seen an 
improvement, answers were forthcoming from 214 
teachers as follows : 

One said the improvement was physical only, not mental; 
Thirty-seven said they had not had enough experience to 
give an opinion; 




CHARGING OVEN. HEAT SUPPLIED BY SCHOOL BATH FURNACE. BRADFORD, 

ENGLAND 




INTERIOR OF MOTOR WAGON. SHOWING DEVICES FOR RETAINING HEAT. 
BRADFORD, ENGLAND 



MEALS IN SCHOOLS 59 

Thirty-three thought no improvement was visible; and 
One hundred and forty-three reported that the meals had 
improved the capacity of the children. 

The work with the parents has been remarkably 
successful. Miss Margaret MacMillan, the well- 
known English educator, in a lecture in New 
York City in 191 1 asserted that the institution 
of school feeding has " enormously increased the 
responsibility of parents, because they are profoundly 
impressed with the need of studying their own chil- 
dren, when they learn things about them they have 
never thought of before." For example, a mother 
brought her little girl to the School Clinic for ex- 
amination. The doctor found nothing the matter 
and inquired why she had brought her and if she had 
noticed anything wrong. The mother said, " Oh 
no, I just wanted an opinion." Such a thing as a 
woman seeking an opinion about her child was 
unheard of ten years ago, while it is now quite 
common. 

Another account of the work in Bradford closes 
with this significant statement : " The doctrine that 
child feeding would undermine parental responsi- 
bility has received a rude shock, as scores of letters 
in our possession show that when circumstances 
improve, parents are the first to report this to the 



60 SCHOOL FEEDING 

committee, are often most grateful for what has 
been done for them, and are anxious to make way 
for the children of those less fortunate than them- 
selves." 

PRESENT EXTENT AND STATUS OF SCHOOL MEALS IN 

ENGLAND 

Beginning with the spring of 1909, annual re- 
ports have been issued by the Board of Education 
on the workings of the Meals Act from the time of 
its passage. The first report, covering the period 
through March, 1909, showed that in 113 places, 
out of a possible 328, the Act had been put into 
operation. Five places were not heard from and 
in 210 places the local authorities stated either that 
there was no need or that voluntary organizations 
were sufficient to meet it. Many of these organiza- 
tions receive substantial support from the city, 
although not through the medium of the school bud- 
get. If we include all forms of organizations, it 
may be fairly said that there are not fewer than 
200 towns in England and Wales where meals of 
some kind are served at school. With these differ- 
ences in mind the experience in Bradford may be 
regarded as typical of what is taking place else- 



MEALS IN SCHOOLS 61 

where in England though not perhaps on such an 
elaborate scale. 

Some idea of the rapidity with which the organ- 
ization of school canteens progresses may be had 
from the following figures taken from the reports 
of the Board of Education referred to above. 

By the end of the year following the passage of 
the Act, forty-one Local Educational Authorities 
had received permission from the central board to 
use school money to pay for the food. In the year 
1 907-1 908, eighty-five authorities received permis- 
sion and during the school year 1909-1910, their 
number was raised to ninety-six, and in 1910-1911 
to one hundred and twenty-three. 

So far as returns were available as to the number 
of children fed, it appears that in 1907- 1908, in 
fifty-six places excluding London, 44,000 children 
(in round numbers) attended meals and among 
them consumed about 3,000,000 meals. In 1908- 
1909 about 118,000 children in 109 places visited 
canteens and consumed over 9,600,000 meals. In 
1909-1910, 119,998 children in 122 places con- 
sumed between them over 8,760,000 meals, again 
excluding London. 



62 



SCHOOL FEEDING 



If we add to the figures already given the returns 
from London for these years, we have the following 
grand totals for England and Wales: 

Table 2. Number of Children Attending Meals and Num- 
ber of Meals Served in Years from 1907-08 to Dec, 1910 



Year 


England and Wales 
Excluding London 


London 


Total 




No. Fed 


No. Meals 


No. Fed 


No. Meals 


No. Fed 


No. Meals 


1907-08 
1908-09 
1909-10 
1910- 


44.213 

117,875 

19,998 

13,084 


2,751.326 
9,671,789 
8,766,635 
7,160,201 


37.979 

39.632 

55,000* 

115,000* 


143,962 

166,766 

7,335,609 

9.138,755 


82,192 

157.507 

174.998* 

228,085* 


2,895,288 

9,838,555 

16,102,244 

16,298,956 



♦Estimates only, based on average number of meals per child consumed 
in preceding years. 

London did not avail herself of Section 3 of the 
Act until January, 1909. After this date the can- 
teen service was increased enormously till, during 
the single week ending March 11, 191 o, 55,554 
children attended the meals in 842 centres, and be- 
tween March and December, 19 10, a total number 
of over 9,000,000 meals was consumed. 



MEALS DURING VACATIONS 

In London and in forty-four other places the 
meals are served every school day, and during the 
school holidays. In thirty-four places provision is 



MEALS IN SCHOOLS 63 

made for the meals all the year round, even though 
the attendance is somewhat smaller in the summer. 
The reason for this practice is because experiments 
have shown that the children tend to lose weight 
during the holidays when the school meals cease. 

FINANCIAL SUMMARY 

There are four different sources for the money 
used in support of the school canteens. First there 
is the amount spent on equipment and service. This 
is drawn from the local taxes, the amount being 
voted on by the City Council as part of the Educa- 
tional Budget. Second, there is the local tax (at 
the rate of y 2 d. on the pound) specially levied to 
cover the cost of food. This is first voted on by the 
City Council but must be submitted for approval 
to the National Board of Education before it may 
be used. The third source of funds is in voluntary 
contributions, which are mainly used to pay for food. 
Finally there is the money collected from parents, 
either in payment for meal tickets, or as a civil debt 
in cases where they have neglected to pay. 

The total amount spent on school canteens in 
112 towns of England and Wales during the years 



64 SCHOOL FEEDING 

1 908- 1 909, and 1 909-1 9 10, is shown in the accom- 
panying table, which indicates also the sources of 
the funds used. 

Table 3. Provision of Meals in English Schools Financial 
Summary, 1908-1911 

1908-09 1909-10 1910-11 

1. Money raised by local taxes for 

food ......$205,445 $408,640 $448,045 

2. Expenditure on equipment and 

service • . . . . 132,175 218,220 256,330 

3. Total cost to local taxes for 

food and service (from 1 

and 2) 337,620 626,860 704,375 

4. Expenditure on administration. 24,045 43,665 63,465 

5. Total expenditure from local 

taxes 361,665 670,525 767,840 

6. Money provided by voluntary 

contributions 89,155 49,065 37,685 

7. Money contributed by or recov- 

ered from parents 1,675 4,530 6,850 

8. Total expenditure on meals (5 

and 6) 450,820 680,455 748,910 

In this table the amount contributed by or recov- 
ered from parents is small for the reason that the 
meals have so far served the needs of only the 
poorest children whose parents, as shown by the 
use of the " Poverty Scale," are actually unable to 
pay even the bare cost of the food-stuffs. The 
significance of this is emphasized by the considera- 



MEALS IN SCHOOLS 65 

ti'on of the fact that the average price asked for a 
dinner is 3 cents and for a breakfast 2 cents. 

The restriction imposed by law on the amount 
that may be spent for food has caused considerable 
trouble, because in several places it has been found 
absolutely impossible to keep within the halfpenny 
limit. For example, in Bradford in 1 908-1 909, 
$22,650 was spent by the school for food instead of 
$14,425, which was the amount covered by a J^d. 
tax. This was partly owing to the fact that the 
meals were continued during the summer months, 
and because, in addition to the dinners, it was found 
necessary to have breakfasts at a time when there 
was an unusual amount of unemployment. An at- 
tempt is now being made to remove this restriction, 
which is felt to be illogical and not in keeping with 
the spirit of the Act, which was designed to benefit 
as large a number of children as possible and at 
least to provide for all children in actual want. 

The amounts provided by voluntary contri- 
butions show a tendency to decrease from year 
to year, as the work becomes more and more recog- 
nized as part of the school responsibility. But this 
does not imply a lack of public interest, since this 
is being shown in other ways, especially by the en- 
5 



66 SCHOOL FEEDING 

thusiastic volunteer service of Canteen Committees 
in doing follow-up work with the parents and chil- 
dren. 

FURTHER LEGISLATION AFFECTING THE CANTEEN 
SERVICE AND RESULTS SO FAR 

The Provision of Meals Act was the first of a 
series of legislative measures passed in favor of 
national conservation and growing out of the fear 
of national deterioration. The most important of 
the laws which were passed later and have affected 
the canteen service was the Education Act of 1907, 
making Medical Inspection compulsory in the 
schools throughout England. The National Board 
of Education almost at once placed the general 
supervision of the Meals Service in the hands of 
their Medical Department and beginning with 19 10, 
the annual report has been made by the Chief 
Medical Officer. 

This Act requires that an account be kept of the 
nutrition of each child and that this be made the 
basis of the general report on his physical condition. 
In most places the medical inspector is a member 
of the committee in charge of the canteen work, and 
frequently it is he who makes the final decision of 
whether or not a child is to receive free meals. 




FILLING FOOD VESSELS WITH SOUP AND RICE PUDDING. BRADFORD, ENGLAND 




CUTTING BREAD AND MINCING PARSLEY. BRADFORD, ENGLAND 



MEALS IN SCHOOLS 67 

In the spring of 1909 an amendment was pro- 
posed to the original Meals Act which was designed 
to place the final responsibility of saying whether 
or not a child is underfed on the medical inspector, 
who might be required at any time by the school 
board to examine a child for this purpose. The 
amendment further provides that wherever a child 
should be found to be underfed, it should be the duty 
of the school authorities to see that it was fed. 

SCHOOL MEALS IN SCOTLAND 

This amending bill was defeated in Parliament. 
If passed it would have virtually made compulsory 
the provision of meals by the educational author- 
ities. In its terms it resembles closely Section 6 of 
the Education Act passed in Scotland in 1908 
whereby medical inspection is made compulsory and 
the school board in any town is obliged to see that 
children are fed who are declared by medical in- 
spection or otherwise to be " unable by reason of 
lack of food to take full advantage of the education 
provided." The school board may make immediate 
provision of food but must interview the parents 
as soon as possible and find out why the child is 
not fed properly. Then if it is found that it is be- 



68 SCHOOL FEEDING 

cause of the poverty or ill health of the parents, 
the school may provide meals for the child as long 
as it is necessary during the school year. Where 
the case shows wilful neglect or cruelty the cost 
of the meals is collected summarily as an " alimen- 
tary debt," and the parent may be punished under 
the Prevention of Cruelty to Children Act. 

FEEDING AS A PREVENTIVE MEASURE 

Partly because of the excellent results obtained 
in the open air 2 schools for tuberculous and anaemic 
children, where full regular meals form an impor- 
tant and prominent part of the treatment, British 
school physicians are now proposing that children 
showing tuberculous or anaemic tendencies shall be 
given meals at school as a preventive measure. In 
this connection, Dr. Lambert of Brighton suggests 
that " it is frequently advisable to recommend all 
members of a family known to be tuberculous, irre- 
spective of their stature." 3 

In many places, the medical inspectors have begun 
keeping records of the physical development of the 
children from year to- year. The records thus made 

3 Ayres, Leonard P., Open Air Schools. 
8 Kelynack, T. N., Medical Examination of Schools and 
Scholars. 



MEALS IN SCHOOLS 69 

are turned over to the British Association for 
Anthropometric Investigation, whose aim is to have 
available at any time material showing the exact 
physical condition of the nation. 4 Special attention 
is given to the children who are underfed and in 
attendance at the school meals, as this is a convenient 
and reliable method of testing the value of the 
canteens. 

The following experiment in Northampton, which 
corroborates the experience of Bradford, shows what 
may be expected from school meals. During a 
period of fourteen weeks, forty-four children were 
given breakfast and supper, and weighed each week. 
At the beginning of this time they weighed on an 
average nearly four pounds less than normal for 
their ages. At the end of the period they had gained 
so that they weighed only two pounds less than 
normal, while forty control children, who had not 
been fed, were as much below weight as before. 

Where such measurements of weight have not 
been made, bodily improvement has been shown in 
other ways. From Halifax comes the report that 
the meals have " increased vitality, both as regards 

4 Report of the Committee on Anthropometric Investigation 
in the British Isles. London, 1909, The Royal Anthrop. 
Institution. 



70 SCHOOL FEEDING 

work and play," and from Bristol that " In a fort- 
night after the commencement of the free dinners 
to necessitous children, the improvement in their 
physical condition became quite apparent." 

One of the chief reasons for having the canteens 
was that certain children were found to be unfitted 
to do mental work properly because of their physical 
weakness. Therefore it is significant that so far 
the reports show that the meals have had a good 
effect on the children's mental ability as well as on 
their bodies. This has been particularly noticeable 
in the case of those distinctly underfed. Where the 
meals have been given as a relief from temporary 
distress, the results have not been appreciable, as 
they have simply maintained the children's normal 
efficiency. A few quotations from the official re- 
ports will illustrate the general tenor of opinion. 

Birkenhead : " The general testimony of the head 
teachers of the various schools ... is that the chil- 
dren were brighter, more regular, and better fitted 
for their work." 

Birmingham (Breakfasts) : " Beyond question a 
distinct improvement has taken place in the ability 
of the children to take full advantage of the educa- 
tion given." 

Bristol : " The children's general appearance is 



MEALS IN SCHOOLS 71 

brighter, and they enter into their work with more 
zest." 

Wallesey : " Most of the teachers report that 
the children show an increased interest and a greater 
ability in their work ; and they also note an improve- 
ment in the regularity of the attendance. One 
teacher says : ' In several cases the dull, tired, and 
frequently bored look about the children has dis- 
appeared, giving place to a brighter manner and 
keener interest in their work/ " 

Only a few exceptions to this general opinion 
as to the effect of the meals on the learning ability 
of the children were found. Thus, one teacher 
in Gillingham stated that " the increase in ability 
was very slight," and in Coventry it was reported 
that many cases showed no apparent difference in 
capacity. 

children's care committees 

Just as it has been found that for medical in- 
spection to be effective, a great deal of " follow-up " 
work must be done with parents and children, so 
it has been with school meals. To make them 
effective and to really strike at the root of mal- 
nutrition with its complex causes, much more must 
be done than merely feeding the children once a 
day. Parents must be visited, shown what good 



72 SCHOOL FEEDING 

food is, and taught and urged to spend what they 
have wisely; bad sleeping habits must be broken 
up, and the aversion to fresh air combated, and 
child labor discovered and stopped ; finally the little 
children not yet going to school must be cared for 
if they are not to be unfitted by malnutrition for 
their future work. 

To do all this is so obviously beyond the limit of 
the teachers' time and strength that Children's Care 
Committees have been established in many English 
towns. These are sub-committees of the local school 
board and the members are elected from managers 
(superintendents), principals, and volunteer laymen. 
They have charge of all the extra-academic activ- 
ities of the school, especially those relating to 
physical welfare. While not obligatory, the forma- 
tion of these committees is strongly urged by the 
Medical Inspection Act of 1907. 

In London, where the committees in charge of 
the meals were at first merely " feeding committees," 
they were reorganized on the larger basis of 
" Care " committees, after two years' experience 
with the more limited activity. The handbook pub- 
lished by the London County Council for the use of 
the thousand committees shows a wide range of 



MEALS IN SCHOOLS 73 

duties extending beyond the school into the chil- 
dren's homes, into their early childhood; into the 
terms and conditions of their industrial life, after 
school years. 

Members of the Care Committees look up the 
records of the children applying for free meals, 
investigate home conditions, talk to parents, and 
give help and advice about their children. Beside 
this they supervise the dietaries in use at the can- 
teens, appoint the people who cook and serve, and 
superintend the entire service of the meals. One 
important part of their work is the attention to 
individual children at the table, to insure that each 
child gets enough and is benefited according to his 
particular need. It seems that, as a rule, about ten 
per cent, of the children require this special atten- 
tion, to be induced to eat the food, or even to attend 
the meals at all, while these are often the very ones 
most in need. 

Other good results of the individual work done 
by these committees was reported from Bristol, 
where it was found since the meals have been served 
at school " the parents have fallen in more readily 
with medical inspection, and the teachers have less 
trouble now in securing cleanliness." 



74 SCHOOL FEEDING 

MANNERS AND CONDUCT IMPROVED BY MEALS 

In general the teachers report a marked improve- 
ment in the manners and conduct of the children, 
especially in places where the meals are served in 
special dining-rooms with personal supervision from 
the teachers or members of the Care Committees. 
One Head Teacher in Bath describes the meals as 
" Practical lessons in unselfishness, cleanliness and 
self help." A characteristic report comes from 
Gorton, where " in many cases the children never 
sit at table when having meal at home. The whole- 
some influence of preparing for the meals — by wash- 
ing hands and faces, singing or saying grace to- 
gether, sitting at table with others and talking to 
them quietly, learning to handle knife and fork or 
spoon, and to eat in seemly fashion — all this has 
had its due effect which has extended beyond the 
meals* centre itself to the school, the home, and even 
to the street." 

FEEDING OF YOUNGER CHILDREN, BEFORE SCHOOL 

AGE 

Beside this provision for children of the compul- 
sory school age, England is attacking the problem 
of food at an earlier stage and day nurseries on the 



MEALS IN SCHOOLS 75 

pattern of the French Creches are being established 
widely. Special attention is paid to the proper feed- 
ing of the children sent there. 

In 1908, Parliament passed the " Children's 
Charter/' which includes in a codified and revised 
form all previous legislation in regard to children, 
with many new features. Section 12 provides for 
the prosecution of all people who fail through their 
own fault to provide sufficient food for the children 
under their charge. In this section " wilful neg- 
lect " includes the failure on the part of the parent 
or guardian to obtain needed help from govern- 
mental sources. 

In 1910 a law was passed which, while not deal- 
ing directly with children or with the educational 
system, is destined to remove one prolific source of 
malnutrition. This was the Board of Trades Law, 
which provides for the fixing of a minimum wage 
in certain low grade industries. The agitation for 
this law began some twenty years ago while a 
school fee was still charged, and many women 
chain-makers, the most unprotected class of wage- 
workers, were being fined for not sending their 
children to school. These women apparently had 
two alternatives: to pay the school fee, and send 



76 SCHOOL FEEDING 

their children to school, or to keep them home and 
pay the fine imposed under the Truancy Law. The 
condition of these women was relieved but slightly 
by the removal of the school fee, as their wages re- 
mained entirely out of proportion with the increas- 
ing cost of living, and the children were often sent 
hungry to school. The new law, though rudimen- 
tary in its implications, is the first step toward an 
adjustment of wages that may end in abolishing the 
need for free meals. 

By these legislative measures — providing for 
school meals, as a part of the regular school system, 
for the examination and registration of the nu- 
tritional condition of all school children, for special 
committees to do follow-up work and home visiting 
in connection with the meals, for a means of dealing 
legally with persons who neglect the feeding of 
children in their care, and finally for the legal ad- 
justment of a minimum rate of wages above the 
starvation line, England is in a fair way to eliminate 
malnutrition from her list of school problems, and 
thereby from the list of obstacles in the way of a 
healthy national life. 



IV 

THE CANTINES SCOLAIRES OF FRANCE 

After bread, education is the first need of a people. 

— Danton. 

In 1849, tne battalion of the National Guard 
in the second district in Paris found that they had 
a surplus in their treasury for which they had no 
special use. All agreed that it must be used to some 
good purpose — to benefit the community if possible. 
The good fellows, many of them fathers, most of 
them poor men, remembered that their neighbors' 
children were often unable to go to school because 
they had no decent clothes or shoes. Their parents 
could not give them the extra food necessary for the 
extra work, far less buy for them the expensive 
books. Here then was a use for the guardsmen's 
money. They turned it over to the district author- 
ities to form the nucleus of a " caisse des ecoles," 
a school fund that was to help poor children get a 
schooling. 

The people of the district became interested; 
other sums were added, and the Caisse became an 
important affair in that section. In 1862 another 

77 



78 SCHOOL FEEDING 

district adopted the plan, and in 1867 its value had 
become so apparent as to attract the attention of the 
Minister of Public Education. The school law 
passed that year contained a section authorizing the 
establishment of School Funds in every commune 
in France. The section ran as follows: 

The municipal council, with the approval of the prefect, 
may establish, in any commune, a school fund destined to 
encourage, and facilitate school attendance, by rewards and 
help given to the industrious and poor pupils. 

The revenues for this fund shall come from voluntary 
gifts, and subventions from the commune, department, or 
state. 

Several communes may combine in forming and support- 
ing such a fund. 

The collection of this fund shall be made gratuitously by 
the teacher. 

In 1882, when primary education was made com- 
pulsory, Article XVIII of the law enacted that: 

The school fund instituted by Article XV of the Law of 
April 10, 1867, shall be established in all the communes. 

The Caisses des ficoles were thus made com- 
pulsory and were put under statutory obligation to 
share in the medical inspection, school lunches, pro- 
vision for holidays, excursions, vacation schools, 



CANTINES SCOLAIRES OF FRANCE 79 

savings banks, and whatever extra services the 
school authorities might institute for physical or 
other welfare of the children. 

THE CANTINES SCOLAIRES 

One definitely recognized part of the functions 
of the Caisses des ficoles soon came to be the Can- 
tine Scolaire, or school lunch room. The support 
for this branch of the work was definitely assumed 
by the government in Paris in 1880 and has since 
become generally recognized throughout France as 
regularly comprising part of the expenses of public 
education. 

As early as 1867 Victor Duray, the minister of 
public instruction, had recommended to the prefects 
that they look after the hygienic conditions of the 
schools, and direct special attention to the nutrition 
of the children. As a result, during the next decade 
school meals for the very poor children were started 
in about 464 places. These meals, not yet cantines 
in the strict sense of the word, were generally in 
the hands of the Caisses des ficoles committees. By 
the term cantine is meant a school restaurant where 
any child can get a meal at noon, on presentation 
of a ticket that represents the payment of the cost 



80 SCHOOL FEEDING 

of the food. Further, the term only applies to res- 
taurants supported in part or entirely by public 
funds. 

There are at present, according to the latest re- 
port, about 1400 communes in France supporting 
school cantines of one kind or another, with pro- 
vision for about 187,000 children. This report 
covers only 55 out of the 88 departments making 
up the French nation, and there is good reason to 
suppose that the other 33 departments are well sup- 
plied. The cantines in Paris may be taken as the 
type of the true cantine scolaire in its most developed 
form. 

ADMINISTRATION OF THE PARISIAN CANTINES 
SCOLAIRES 

Paris was the first of the great world cities to 
make complete and adequate provision for the 
proper nourishment of all her school children, and 
this, not as a matter of charity but as the expression 
of a fundamental conviction in education; that is, 
that the state, in assuming responsibility for the 
mental culture of the children, must be also respon- 
sible for their physical preparedness for this culture. 
London followed her example some twenty years 
later. 



CANTINES SCOLAIRES OF FRANCE 81 

The municipal provision of cantines was first 
considered in Paris in 1877 when one of the city- 
councillors proposed that every child whose parents' 
names were on the lists of the Poor Board should 
receive warm food and clothing from the city in 
order that it might attend the public schools. Can- 
tines were at once started in a few schools, but it 
was not until 1880, after two years of study and ex- 
periment, that the council voted financial support 
and the cantines were established in every school 
district. From the beginning the cantines were 
entrusted to the administration of the Caisses in 
each district, which received a special subsidy of 
480,000 francs or $96,000 toward their support, 
being required to furnish the balance of the cost 
from local sources. 

With the development of the cantines, the sub- 
sidy from the city was gradually increased, till 
finally it covered the entire cost and the committee 
in charge of the Caisses, now entirely official bodies, 
were responsible only for the administration of the 
cantines. By 1900 the cost of the cantines had 
risen to 1,000,000 francs or $200,000 in 1905 to 
1,050,000 or $210,000 where it has remained. In 
1900, the expenditures for the cantines amounted 

6 



82 SCHOOL FEEDING 

to a little over four per cent, of the city's entire 
educational budget. 

This figure $210,000 does not include the amount 
given to the teachers who supervise the meals each 
day. They are paid 1 fr. 50, about 25 cents a day 
for an hour's attendance at noon. This fee was 
gained in 1904 after a long struggle on the part of 
the teachers, who, while they gave their services 
gladly enough, felt it was unjust to be required to 
serve without pay. 

Each year the different districts apply to the city 
council for an amount that they think will cover 
their expenses. At the same time they report the 
work of the past year and give in detail their plans 
for the next. The council then distributes the en- 
tire amount set aside for the cantines in proportion 
to what they think each district needs. Three gen- 
eral principles of procedure that have been followed 
ever since were decided upon when the cantines 
were first established in Paris. 

MEALS FOR ALL, FREE FOR THOSE WHO CANNOT PAY 

The first is that the meals, although open to all 
children, whatever their economic class, shall not be 
free to all but free only to those children unable to 



CANTINES SCOLAIRES OF FRANCE 83 

pay the cost of the food. Although the cost of the 
food does not cover the cost of equipment and ser- 
vices, it was felt that if the parents were required to 
pay for the food, it would be an ample safeguard 
against the possibility of weakening their sense of 
responsibility. " The requests for free food are re- 
ferred to the principals of the schools; they are 
then investigated carefully by a special delegate of 
the Caisse des licoles, who includes in his report not 
only the parents' statements but also all the circum- 
stances which oblige the family for the time being 
to ask for charity. Moreover, the privilege is 
granted for only one school year at a time." 

UNIFORM MEAL TICKETS 

The second principle, developing from the first, 
is that in distributing the food, no distinction is 
made between those paying and those receiving the 
food free. " In order to avoid making any dis- 
tinctions of such a kind as to wound the feelings 
of the less fortunate families, it was decided to 
adopt for all portions distributed, whether paid for 
or not, a system of uniform checks, to be sold to 
those families able to pay for them and to be given 
gratuitously to the needy children. These checks 



84 SCHOOL FEEDING 

are received by those in charge of the cantines, who 
are absolutely forbidden to receive any payment in 
money. 

The distribution and sale of the tickets is taken 
care of at the town hall under the direction of the 
mayor, and of a committee appointed by the Caisses 
des ficoles and of a second committee appointed 
from the Cantonal Delegation." 1 

LOCAL INDEPENDENCE OF THE DISTRICT CANTINES 

The final principle is that the Caisse des ficoles 
in each district shall have complete control of all 
other points in the organization of the cantines. 
This provision allows for local variation in ad- 
ministration to meet the differing local conditions 
in the various parts of the city. 

There are two general methods of organization. 
By the first, or indirect method, the Caisse entrusts 
the service of the cantine to a caterer, paying him 
so much per meal, usually about 15 centimes or 3 
cents. By the other, known as the direct method, 
the Cantines are under the direct supervision of a 

1 Extract from a statement made by the Director of 
Primary Education in Paris, on "The Organization of the 
School Cantines in Paris," published in manuscript manifold 
for distribution. 



CANTINES SCOLAIRES OF FRANCE 85 

committee elected by the Caisse. The latter is in 
use in the majority of districts and is considered the 
better from every point of view. It is more eco- 
nomical, as the cost of a single meal rarely exceeds 
two cents, as against three or four cents, by the 
indirect method. 

MANAGEMENT OF THE CANTINES BY THE DIRECT 

METHOD 

In those districts where the direct method is used, 
the Caisse des ficoles gives the entire management 
of the cantines into the hands of a committee con- 
sisting of twenty of its members. This committee 
meets at least once a month. It chooses the trades- 
men that are to be patronized, the staff of workers 
in charge of each cantine, and issues orders for the 
purchase of food, etc. There is always one woman 
inspector appointed by the committee, who* has fif- 
teen or twenty woman helpers, all of them respon- 
sible to the committee. 

At the outset the committee, having chosen the 
trades-people, gives specific direction for the buying 
of the foods, the price to be paid, the quality used, 
etc. The food bought must always be of excellent 
quality. Beef, legs of mutton, and fresh pork for 



86 SCHOOL FEEDING 

roasting are the meats most commonly used. The 
vegetables must be fresh in summer. 

The menu must include meat or vegetable soup, 
and meat with a vegetable or macaroni. 

As a rule, each cantine supplies two schools, 
though where the schools are very large they may 
each have their own cantine. At the head of each 
cantine is a " cantiniere," who is responsible for the 
receiving, preparation and safe-keeping of the food, 
as well as for attending to the care of the equip- 
ment and fuel. She has one or more assistants, 
according to the size of the cantine. The salaries of 
these women vary according to the amount of work 
they have to do, but all are allowed their lunches. 

The head woman inspector must visit as many 
cantines as possible in a day, and see the food both 
in the raw and cooked, as well as watch the proc- 
esses of preparation and service. Her assistant in- 
spectors visit the other schools, and members of the 
cantine committee are expected to make frequent 
visits as well. The inspector, her assistants and 
the committee are required to report the results 
of their investigations on blanks provided for the 
purpose. These blanks are submitted to the Can- 
tine Committee at each monthly meeting. 



CANTINES SCOLAIRES OF FRANCE 87 

REAL MEALS, NOT " FEEDING " 

The spirit of the Parisian cantines is thoroughly 
democratic. The principle is to encourage all the 
children, rich and poor, to eat together, and there 
is no distinction made between those who pay and 
those who do not. A child may bring his own meal 
with him, but it is never so cheap, is always cold 
and is rarely as good as the meal provided by the 
cantine, which, as all observers agree, is remarkably 
good. 

" From the very first," writes an English visitor, 
" the greatest care has been taken not to allow any 
loss of dignity to arise from the free feeding. The 
fundamental principle of the whole management is 
the absolute innocence of the children. They cannot 
be expected to pay. Their parents may be at fault ; 
if so there is only the greater reason to shelter the 
children and try to preserve in them that sense of 
self-respect which might so easily be wrecked by 
their parents' bad conduct." 2 To avoid any pos- 
sibility of the children themselves knowing who 
pay and who do not, the simple device is used of 
a small box-office through which each child goes 
to purchase his ticket. If he claims that he cannot 

3 Lancet, Reports on the Free Feeding of School Children. 



88 SCHOOL FEEDING 

pay, the ticket is still given, but his name and ad- 
dress are noted, and inquiries are at once made 
about his parents. Where the parents are found 
able to pay they are compelled to do so, but where 
they cannot, tickets are given to* the child without 
further question for as long as may be necessary. 
Lists of those who are to receive free tickets are 
made out at the beginning of every school year. 

A THREE COURSE DINNER FOR THREE CENTS 

The food that may be bought for three cents at 
any Paris school cantine is surprisingly good in 
quality and there is enough of it to satisfy the 
hungriest little stomach. Three cents will buy soup, 
meat and vegetables and sometimes even a little 
sweet by way of dessert, not to mention all the bread 
wanted. The older children receive 30 grams of 
meat, and the younger ones twenty. 

The menu is changed every day in the week. To 
quote the Lancet Commissioner again, it is gener- 
ally something as follows: 

" Three days in the week there is ' bouillon gras,' 
a delicacy unknown in England, as no ordinary Eng- 
lish cook will take the trouble to add the proper 



CANTINES SCOLAIRES OF FRANCE 89 

proportions of flavoring herbs and vegetables to 
the beef. Only twice a week is the boiled beef with 
which the soup has been made given for the second 
course. As this meat is lighter than roast meat 
care is taken to supply for the third course the 
most substantial vegetables — namely, lentils or 
haricot beans. On three days a week roast beef, 
pork, veal, or mutton is given, preceded by a tasty 
vegetable soup, and followed by a dish of mashed 
potatoes, or macaroni cheese, or of rice and milk, 
all well flavored, well cooked, and of excellent 
quality." 

Though only the midday meal is compulsory, in 
a number of districts soup is distributed at the be- 
ginning of school to the poorest children, and a 
" goutte," or little bite, of bread and milk in the 
afternoon at four o'clock. 

TEACHERS AND PUPILS EAT TOGETHER 

Perhaps the most striking proof of the attractive 
character of the dinners is the approval shown by 
the teachers who attend regularly even when not 
supervising. Their presence at the meals is of 
obvious value, not only in assuring the quality of 



90 SCHOOL FEEDING 

the food, but even more for the opportunities it 
offers for unconscious culture. 

Mr. John Spargo, who has visited the cantines 
and eaten at them, states that " fully 90 per cent, 
of the teachers use the canteens more or less regu- 
larly, though there is absolutely no compulsion in 
the matter. They prefer to do so on account of 
the cheapness and wholesome character of the 
meals." He goes on to say, " I have myself sat 
down to a three cent dinner in the company of a 
well-known member of the Chamber of Deputies, a 
professor of languages, and several teachers, each 
one of us having gone through the little box-office 
and bought his ticket in exactly the same manner 
as the most ragged urchin. All of the children are 
provided with paper napkins. The presence of the 
teachers is a sort of practical education in table 
manners. These cantines serve therefore as a great 
educational and ethical force as well as a remedy 
for one of the worst evils arising out of the national 
poverty problem. ,, 3 

The principal of each school is responsible for 
the distribution and sale of the meal checks, and for 

8 Spargo, John, in his " The Bitter Cry of the Children," 
p. 286, 1906, New York, the Macmillan Company. 



CANTINES SCOLAIRES OF FRANCE 91 

keeping an account of the numbers of children who 
buy them or receive them free. He is also respon- 
sible for " the material and moral well-being " of 
the cantines. 

MEDICAL INSPECTION IN THE CANTINES 

Medical Inspection is obligatory in the schools 
of most French cities. In Paris one of the duties 
of the school doctor is to visit the cantines in each 
district. He must examine the food and see that 
the children get the proper kind and amount accord- 
ing to their ages. If he finds any child in need of 
a special sort of diet, he reports this, and leaves 
orders with the cantiniere and principal which must 
be carried out. Sometimes tonics or cod liver oil 
are prescribed and furnished at meal time to the 
children needing them. 

THE COST AND EXTENT OF CANTINES IN PARIS 

All the districts of Paris have cantines except 
the eighth, where food is provided for the very 
poor children only, with no provision for children 
who can pay. In the school year 1 908-1 909 there 
were 353 school restaurants. These supplied meals 
to the pupils of 588 schools and 38,531 children 



92 SCHOOL FEEDING 

were accommodated. This means an average of 
109 children to each cantine and 66 children from 
each school. The entire number of meals served 
amounted to nearly eight millions, or a little over 
200 meals for each child. This does not mean 
that each child was fed for two hundred days, for 
in some districts light meals are given in the morn- 
ing and evening as well as at noon. 

The number of cantines and the numbers accom- 
modated vary greatly in the different sections. In 
the 1 8th district, where the service is considered the 
most satisfactory by the city government, 7,128 
children are accommodated daily, in 22 cantines. 

In about one-half the city the cantines accom- 
modate about 150 children apiece. In the other 
districts the cantines accommodate on an average 
of 50 apiece. 

The meals vary somewhat in cost in the different 
districts. In the ninth district the average net cost 
of the meals was just two cents per meal, while in 
the third it was slightly over six cents. The aver- 
age cost was just under four cents, to be exact, 3.8 
cents. The prices paid by the children who pur- 
chased their meal averaged three cents per meal. 
This has come to be the standard price for a meal 



CANTINES SCOLAIRES OF FRANCE 93 

ticket in Paris. In thirteen districts three is the regu- 
lar amount, in two the tickets are only two cents, 
while in one district only does it rise as high as 
four cents. 

The following summary gives the salient facts 
about the service of school meals in Paris: 

Cantines Scolaires in the City of Paris, 1908-1909 

Number of schools 588 

Number of Cantines Scolaires 353 

Total number of different children fed 38,531 

Total meals distributed 7,790,627 

Meals paid for 2,480,827 

Per cent, of meals paid for 32 

Meals given free 5,309,800 

Per cent, of meals given free 68 

Average cost per meal in cents 3.5 

Average charge per meal in cents 2.9 

Subsidy from city in dollars 210,000 

CANTINES IN THE REST OF FRANCE 

The pioneer town in France to have school meals 
was Angers, where as early as 1871 a society known 
as " The Society for People's Kitchens in the Pub- 
lic Schools " ( Societe de Fourneau des ficoles 
Laiques) was established with the approval and 
support of the city authorities. With the co-opera- 
tion of the teachers this society still serves a warm 



94 SCHOOL FEEDING 

midday meal free to all who cannot pay and at a 
cost of two cents to others, from the beginning of 
November to the end of May. About 1800 children 
were served daily in 1908. 

The cantines arose independently in the differ- 
ent sections of the country, Angers leading in 1871, 
and Paris making them compulsory in 1882. They 
now constitute a part of the school equipment in 
cities, small villages and country districts. An 
inquiry regarding the number of places having can- 
tines, the number of children accommodated, etc., 
was directed by the author of the present work in 
1909 to the prefect at the head of each of the 88 
departments. The prefects of 55 departments re- 
plied, and in only two places were there no can- 
tines; a third prefect replied that he could not 
give any information about them. All three of 
these departments were country districts. In at 
least 52 departments of France there are cantines, 
providing meals for anywhere from 100 country 
children on the Swiss border, to 55,000 in the 
thickly populated department of the Seine. 

In the majority of cases, the commune holds it- 
self directly responsible for the maintenance of the 
meals. Out of 43 cases, the support and administra- 



CANTINES SCOLAIRES OF FRANCE 95 

tion were entirely public in 2J, while in the other 
1 6 cases the administration was in the hands of a 
semi-public society, receiving public subsidy. In 
other words, the available information seems to 
indicate that something like three-fifths of the can- 
tines are supported directly and entirely by public 
funds, while the other two-fifths are supported in- 
directly and partially by public funds. 

The following analyses of official reports make 
a convenient summary of the present system of 
Cantines Scolaires in France: 

I. Analysis of the Reports from Fifty-Five Departments 
of France Concerning the Cantines Scolaires 

Among fifty-five departments thirty-four reported the number 
of cities. They were 816 in number. 

Among fifty-five departments forty-five reported the number 
of communes. They were 1,391 in number. 

Among fifty-five departments thirty-nine reported the number 
of Cantines Scolaires. They were 2,720 in number. 

Among fifty-five departments forty-seven reported the 
number of school children receiving meals. They were 
186,505 in number. 

Among fifty-five departments forty-three reported facts re- 
specting the source of support of the Cantines Scolaires. 
In twenty-seven departments they were supported from 
public funds; in the remaining sixteen, from public and 
private funds. 



96 SCHOOL FEEDING 

Among fifty-five departments two reported no Cantines Sco- 

laires. 
Among fifty-five departments one gave no information. 

II. Analysis of the Reports from Paris and the Other 
Fifty-Four Departments Reporting 

No. of No. of No. of Children 

Schools Cantines Receiving Meal. 

Paris 588 353 38,531 

France, exclusive of Paris 2367 147,974 



Total 2720 186,505 

SUBSTITUTES FOR THE REGULAR CANTINES 
SCOLAIRES 

We have already noted that the term cantine has 
a definite meaning, and that it does not apply to 
privately run meal centres, nor yet to those run as 
relief measures even where the government sup- 
ports them. In a large number of places, where 
for some reason or another regular cantines have 
not been installed, the teachers or janitors serve 
warm soup to the children at a nominal sum, usually 
during the winter months only. These are called 
by the general names of " Soupes Chaudes," or 
" Soupes Scolaires," and may exist in the same town 
with regular cantines. 

Still another form of the school meal that is yet 



CANTINES SCOLAIRES OF FRANCE 97 

not a cantine, is found in country districts or in the 
smaller towns, where the children bring the raw 
material for the soup, vegetables, meat, flavoring, 
etc., from which a sort of communal soup is pre- 
pared by the teacher, of which all partake. Beside 
the soup stuff, the children bring their own bread 
and sometimes a little wine and water, or a small 
cake for dessert. There is one more form of pro- 
vision for the school child's lunch. Most schools, 
whether or not they have a cantine, or a system of 
" Soupes Chaudes," do have a stove for warming 
the children's food. Thus, a child may bring a little 
pail of soup, a piece of meat, or an egg, and the 
teacher or janitor will warm it for him if he is too 
little to attend to it himself. 

There are four important points about the public 
provision of meals in France : 

i. Although there is no specific national legisla- 
tion in regard to school restaurants in France, their 
provision is nation-wide. The communes are 
obliged to have school funds, the Caisses des 
ficoles, which may be used for the provision of 
meals whenever there is need. 

2. The cantines are supported directly by the 
municipalities in the majority of cases. To a less 
7 



98 SCHOOL FEEDING 

degree they are entrusted to semi-private bodies, re- 
ceiving public subsidy. 

3. Where well developed, the service of the can- 
tines is closely allied to that of Medical Inspection, 
being under the direct supervision of the school 
doctor, who may at any time suggest a special diet 
for a particular child, or prescribe a tonic or other 
medicine. The doctor's orders must be carried out 
at public expense in these cases. 

4. Finally, in no case is the provision of meals 
regarded as charity, but always as an expression of 
the ideal "mens sana in corpore sano." 

It is a cardinal point in the French theory of 
education that a child must have a warm meal in 
the middle of the day. How far the government 
has been interested to put this theory into practice 
may be judged by the foregoing account of school 
restaurants, " Soupes Chaudes," the " communal 
soup," and the handy school stoves. 



School Meals in German Municipalities 

It is easy enough to discover and feed the hungry children, 
but if we are content with observing the merely external, we 
run the danger of overlooking the real underlying conditions, 
and of veiling the social shame that they represent. — Dr. 
Cuno, 1896. 

If one were to attempt to characterize in a single 
phrase the movement for school feeding in France, 
that phrase might well be " unconscious evolution." 
For England, the term " national necessity " would 
seem justified. In Germany the movement in its 
national aspects assumes the character of scientific 
experiment. 

Shortly after the passage of the British Provision 
of Meals Act, in 1906, it was discovered in Ger- 
many that from forty-four to forty-six per cent, of 
conscripts for the Imperial Army were rejected for 
the same reason of physical unfitness that caused 
the failure of three out of five men in England. One 
result of this discovery was to stimulate national 
interest in the subject of school feeding because 
here, too, malnutrition during the period of growth 

99 



100 SCHOOL FEEDING 

was held to be accountable for a good share of 
the trouble. 

The way in which the problem was attacked was 
characteristically thorough. An exhaustive study 
was undertaken beginning with the history, extent, 
character and methods of the organization already 
providing school meals in two hundred and thirty- 
nine cities with populations of ten thousand and 
over. 

For the most part, these organizations were de- 
signed to meet the need of only a limited number 
of children who were in acute distress and the 
statistics of attendance of these societies were no 
indication of the real condition of nutrition among 
the children at large. Therefore the home meals 
were studied of over 500,000 children represent- 
ing all social grades in over a hundred cities. 
Among other things it was discovered that there 
was widespread ignorance among parents as to 
the proper food for children, and that as a conse- 
quence, many thousands of children were growing 
up with wretchedly bad habits of eating. 

The social and economic causes of such acute 
malnutrition as had forced attention from the school 



MEALS IN GERMAN CITIES 101 

authorities were studied in over 23,000 cases, and 
were found to be almost without exception laid in 
poverty. 

The dietaries in use in a score of towns having 
typical organization for school feeding were sub- 
jected to chemical analysis in order to determine 
their food value. This led to an extensive study 
of the proper diet for the school age, and the con- 
struction of suitable menus for school use. 

Finally, school feeding was studied in its relation 
to the general progress of social reform, and a plan 
of action was laid out that included the formula- 
tion of legislative measures involving the schools 
and the cost of living, and the expense of food. 

The results of this investigation conducted by 
Dr. Kaup, director of medical inspection in Berlin, 
were discussed in May, 1909, during a three days' 
conference of the League for Social Welfare. 1 They 
are of sufficient value to be enumerated here some- 
what in detail for the use and guidance of the 
movement elsewhere. 

1 Kaup, Dr. J., Die Ernahrungsverhaltnisse der Volkschul- 
kinder. Vorbericht und Verhandlungen der 3 Konferenz der 
Zentralstelle fur Volkswohlfahrt. 



102 SCHOOL FEEDING 

GENERAL HISTORY OF THE MOVEMENT IN GERMANY, 

I 790-1 909 

The most striking things about the history of the 
school feeding movement in Germany are first that 
it is very old, antedating compulsory education 
laws, and second that many different forms of 
social and educational endeavor have contributed 
to its long development. 

The beginning was made over a century ago in 
Munich when it was discovered that the soup 
kitchens, established in 1790 for the relief of the 
city's unemployed, and as a guard against vagrancy, 
might serve also as a relief to the child victims of 
the bad industrial conditions incident to the 
introduction of the factory system. From the 
beginning the schools were encouraged to send 
groups of children to the kitchens at noon each 
day, where a warm meal was sold or given free 
to all who might need it. This work was un- 
organized and sporadic, as was that in the 
Children's Homes, which, during the next fifty 
years, undertook to supply breakfasts or lunches 
to children in extreme need in the schools in 
different places. 



MEALS IN GERMAN CITIES 103 

MAKING SCHOOL ATTENDANCE EFFECTIVE 

In 1875 " The Philanthropic School Society " 
was started in Hamburg. This society, like many 
others, started at this time in Germany and in other 
countries, had as its purpose the promotion of 
attendance and efficiency in the public schools, by 
means of the provisions of free text-books, prizes 
for good scholarship and clothes and food to such 
children as needed help. School feeding soon came 
to be one of the main activities of these societies, 
which were early subsidized by the cities. 

PRIVATE RELIEF WORK 

Curiously enough the work of school feeding by 
purely private effort was begun relatively late with 
the organization in 1880 of the Dresden " Society 
for Feeding Needy School Children," and while 
many similar societies developed elsewhere, this 
form of administering school feeding has never 
been so prominent in Germany as other forms which 
are more closely related to school administration. 

VACATION COLONIES AND SCHOOL FEEDING 

Vacation Colonies were started in different parts 
of Germany in the early seventies, and developed 



104 SCHOOL FEEDING 

during the next twenty years until nearly every 
city had its little group of men and women — ■ 
mostly teachers and doctors — who saw to it that 
sickly and weak children from the crowded sec- 
tions were sent into the country for a few weeks 
in the summer. When these vacation colony 
workers met together in a national convention at 
Leipsic in 1890, they reported the same thing; the 
colonies were a good thing, there could be no doubt 
that the children were benefited by them — but — 
when the children returned to the old bad con- 
ditions at home, crowded quarters, bad air, and 
particularly, bad food — the good effects of the 
weeks in the country were soon lost. 

Because of this, many colonies had attempted to 
extend some of their benefits through the winter 
by feeding a few of the children, and this work, 
which involved much home visiting, impressed the 
teachers with the need existing even among the 
stronger children. In many cities it was discov- 
ered for the first time that " thousands of children 
come to school every morning without having had 
the least thing to eat." In this way the work of 
feeding the children when they came home from 



MEALS IN GERMAN CITIES 105 

the country came to be considered quite as im- 
portant as sending them away. 

As a result of the Leipsic convention an in- 
vestigation of the subject of school feeding was 
started with the authority and backing of the Prus- 
sian Government. The results were published by 
Dr. Cuno in 1896. At that time there were 79 
cities where some sort of provision for school 
feeding was made. The organization conducting 
it included private societies, publicly endowed so- 
cieties, and Children's Homes, beside the work of 
the vacation colonies. Reports from 42 cities, 
showed that a total of 27,635 children were being 
fed. 

Popular interest in Dr. Cuno's report was so 
great that a year later, in 1897, the Social Demo- 
crats introduced a bill into the Reichstag, calling 
for the provision of school meals in all cities. This 
bill was opposed and defeated on the ground that 
the provision of meals at school would cause a 
migration of population to the cities. However, 
the agitation resulted in an increased subsidizing 
of local societies by city councils and the movement 
grew apace. 



106 SCHOOL FEEDING 

SCHOOL FEEDING BECOMES A NATIONAL ISSUE 

During the next decade, when all England was 
being stirred by the rumor of national deteriora- 
tion, when France was working out its national 
legislation in regard to children, and at the height 
of the campaign in Germany for a national Child 
Labor Bill, the problem of school feeding became 
more sharply defined and took on the characteristics 
of a national issue. 

In Germany, as in England, there was an alarm- 
ing percentage of physical unfitness among army 
recruits. Of all these coming up for service, dur- 
ing a period of ten years, from 1890- 1907, between 
44 and 46 per cent, were rejected, in spite of a 
lowering in the standard physical requirements. 2 
On the face of it, this did not look quite so serious 
as England's 60 per cent., but it must be remem- 
bered that because of compulsory military service 
the Germany figures are based on a far larger 
proportion of the male population. 

As in England, underfeeding during the period 
of growth was pointed to as one great cause. The 
matter was taken up in Labor Bulletins, at 

s Simon, Helene, Schule und Brot, p. 65. 



MEALS IN GERMAN CITIES 107 

teachers' conventions, national and international, 
in congresses of child hygiene and by the non- 
technical press, and work for national action was 
begun in earnest with the investigation now under 
consideration. 

PRESENT ORGANIZATIONS FOR SCHOOL FEEDING IN 

GERMANY 

According to Dr. Kaup's report, there are 239 
cities with some sort of provision for school feed- 
ing. The majority of the organizations are sup- 
ported entirely or in part by city subsidies. 

SCHOOL BREAKFASTS IN STUTTGART 

In most places the meal served is breakfast either 
before school or in the forenoon recess at 10 o'clock. 
The best form of organization is probably that of 
Stuttgart, where since 1906, a breakfast of bread 
and milk has been served each week-day morning 
during the entire year. The work is under the 
direction of the Medical Inspector of Schools, and 
is supported entirely by the municipality. In order 
to keep the expense of provisions down, no children 
are given free meals save those who are known to 
be in real need of help. All others must pay. 



108 SCHOOL FEEDING 

There are careful municipal regulations govern- 
ing the service, the location of centres, the kind of 
milk sold, and the general sanitation of kitchens 
and dining-rooms. These regulations together with 
the provisions for supervision and the rules govern- 
ing the free admission of children to the breakfasts 
are given in Appendix D of this book. The most 
important of the regulations are as follows : 

1. Each school district must have at least one 
school where bread and milk are served in the 
morning. 

2. Meal tickets costing 8 cents for six, are sold 
each week in the schools to those children who are 
listed as wanting breakfasts. 

3. No child can receive free meal tickets, unless 
the committee of inquiry for the school has dis- 
covered a real need. 

4. No visible distinction shall be made between 
children paying for the breakfasts and those re- 
ceiving them free. 

5. Each child shall receive at each meal %. liter, 
a little over a half pint, of warm milk and a bread 
roll. 

6. A special director is in charge of each centre 
and is responsible for promptness and cleanliness 



MEALS IN GERMAN CITIES 109 

of service. The dishes and all utensils must be 
washed after each meal in hot water, and rinsed in 
cold and must be kept in a place especially provided. 
In the year 1907- 1908 the meals were served in 
25 centres, to an average of 2,350 or over 17 per 
cent, of the school population, at a total expense 
to the city of $6,800. The breakfasts are pro- 
nounced a success by the teachers, who find the 
children much better able to follow the lessons, 
which in Stuttgart are heaviest in the morning. 

SPECIAL PROVISIONS IN POOREST SECTIONS 

In the very poorest sections, where the mothers 
and fathers of the children are away from home 
all day, the city serves a warm dinner of soup and 
meat and vegetables at noon in four kitchens, 
specially erected for the purpose, each of which 
accommodates something over 200 children daily. 
In addition there are 475 children fed daily in the 
subsidized Children's Home. Including these three 
forms of feeding, the municipal breakfasts in 25 
centres, the municipal dinners in four schools, and 
the work of the children's homes is a total of over 
3,600 children, or 26 per cent, of the school popula- 
tion who are fed in the Stuttgart schools. 



110 SCHOOL FEEDING 

SCHOOL DINNERS IN CHARLOTTENBURG 

Charlottenburg, now well known to schoolmen as 
the place where the first open air school was started, 
has the best form of midday meal, in addition to a 
system of breakfasts modelled on the Stuttgart 
plan. In 1906, when the breakfasts were started, a 
careful canvass of the home feeding of all the chil- 
dren was made, and it was discovered that about 
3,000 children were fed irregularly, going without 
one or more meals a day, or having no warm meal 
at noon. This meant that 14 per cent, of the school 
population were in need of some sort of provisions. 

A system of meals was inaugurated, under the 
direction of the Board of Health. Under this sys- 
tem breakfasts are provided in the schools, and 
dinners are served in special centres under the 
immediate direction of the Children's Home So- 
ciety. All expenses are paid by the city. In the 
case of the dinners, the city pays the society in 
charge 4 cents a portion, 3 cents of which is for 
the raw material and one for the general expenses 
of service. By the fall of 1908 the breakfasts and 
lunches were being served to about 1,400 children 
in all. The service is continued throughout the 
year. 



MEALS IN GERMAN CITIES 111 

The food is prepared according to special direc- 
tions furnished by Dr. Max Rubner, the celebrated 
authority on nutrition. The breakfasts and dinners 
together are so planned as to meet half of what 
is thought necessary for a day's ration for the 
growing child. Meat is served twice a week, but 
vegetables and rice, cooked with bacon, are served 
daily. In warm weather fruit is served. The chil- 
dren are allowed as much as they want. The meals 
are served with care, the children being seated at 
tables which are laid with cloths and decorated 
with flowers. 

There is considerable " follow-up " work done 
in connection with the Charlottenburg meals, and 
in each case the children's home conditions are 
studied. The attempt is made to find and provide 
for every case of need. Personal interviews are 
held with parents, who are instructed in the care 
of their children. Children whose parents' names 
are already on the lists of public or private charity 
associations are admitted to free meals without 
question. Wherever possible, however, parents are 
held strictly responsible for payment for the meals. 

To summarize: The best practice in Germany 
school feeding as illustrated by Stuttgart and Char- 



112 SCHOOL FEEDING 

lottenburg includes: Provision all the year round 
for any children who care to come. Meals free to 
those who cannot pay. Supervision during meals 
and follow-up work in connection with the meals. 
Correlation with Medical Inspection. Careful 
preparation of menus, to embody a dietary suited 
to the needs of growing children. The service, 
clean, sanitary, and pleasing in appearance. 

The investigation showed that for one reason 
or another the meals in Stuttgart and Charlotten- 
burg could not be considered typical of the service 
throughout the country. Rather they represented 
the ideal, or model. The most serious difference 
between the meals in these two cities and elsewhere 
was found to be in the character of the food itself. 
First as regards the breakfasts. 

GENERAL CHARACTER OF FOOD SERVED 

There are 153 places beside Stuttgart where a 
breakfast of some sort is served. In no of these 
warm milk and bread are given. Nine cities give 
coffee and bread — merely a stop gap, and not real 
food. In the other soup and bread, cocoa and 
bread, or a sandwich is served. 



MEALS IN GERMAN CITIES 113 

In order to determine the best form of breakfast 
for children, the menus given in six typical organiza- 
tions were analyzed. One of these breakfasts con- 
sisted of bread and milk; the others of soup, made 
with milk and cereals, peas, beans, or meat stock. 
The superiority of bread and milk was demon- 
strated when it was shown that in only one other 
menu was the food value anywhere near equal 
to that found in the Stuttgart breakfast. The meals 
of bean and pea and meat soups, were found to 
give one-third to one-half of the proper amount of 
energy, while the protein or tissue-building element 
was very low indeed. 

As regards the menus in the dinners, the con- 
dition was found to be even more serious. Dinners 
of some sort are served in 86 cities out of 189 
reporting. Upon analysis of the food served in 
12 different cities, chosen as types from yy cities 
whose menus were ascertained, it was found that 
not one contained what was considered a normal 
amount of nutritive value. The standard used for 
comparison was that of Dr. Erisman, a Swiss 
authority on the feeding of school children, who 
considers that the main meal should contain about 
one-half of the total amount needed during the 



114 SCHOOL FEEDING 

day. As in most cases the school meal was planned 
to be the chief meal of the day, it seemed fair to 
apply the standard. In the twelve cities, not one 
furnished such a standard, that is a meal yielding 
816 Calories of fuel value. The one that came 
nearest to meeting this standard served j6 per cent, 
of this, and the percentage dropped, through the 
12 cities, to 25 per cent, in one. On the average 
the meals yielded 475 Calories each, not bad at all 
for a light lunch, but not enough for one-half the 
day's food supply. The amount of protein was 
far lower than the standard in nearly all cases, 
sometimes falling as low as 27 per cent, of normal. 
On an average, the meals contained about three- 
fifths the normal requirements of meat or other 
protein material. 

GENERAL CHARACTER AND SUPPORT OF SCHOOL 
FEEDING ORGANIZATIONS 

The kind of organization and support varies 
considerably in the different cities. There are in 
general three forms. First there are private so- 
cieties giving meals as relief measures to the chil- 
dren, and receiving no money support from the 
city, though nearly always the school authorities 



MEALS IN GERMAN CITIES 115 

cooperate in the work of supervising and service, 
and in many cases the rooms, and even gas for 
cooking are supplied free. Such societies were 
found in 78 cities out of 189 reporting. In 1907- 
1908 these societies fed over 17,000 children, a 
number amounting to 4 per cent, of the school 
population in these cities. 

The next form found in 68 cities is in the hands 
of private organizations, which, however, receive 
financial support from the city governments and 
are usually under its supervision. These societies 
served meals to about 56,000 children in the cities 
where they operated. 

Finally there are 43 cities, where the work of 
school feeding is a municipal affair entirely, and 
as a rule is in the hands of the school authorities, 
though occasionally it is conducted by the Board 
of Health. In these cities nearly 18,000, or six 
per cent, of the children, attend the meals. 

In addition to regular forms of school feeding 
just enumerated the Children's Homes in 43 cities 
assume part of the work. If we include 16,000 
school children fed in this way this makes a total 
of 111,000 or 6.5 per cent, of the school population 
that are provided with meals outside their homes. 



116 SCHOOL FEEDING 

School feeding is, as we should expect, more 
extensive in the great cities than in the smaller 
ones. Of the 41 cities in the empire with popula- 
tions over 100,000, there are 32 having organiza- 
tions for school feeding. It is by no means con- 
fined to the great cities, however; indeed it is in 
cities of the fourth class with populations from 
20,000 to 30,000 that the largest percentages of 
children attend the meals; and it is the small cities 
of 10,000 to 20,000 that have the largest per cent, 
of municipally supported organizations. 

The movement is best developed where children 
are best cared for in other directions as well. For 
example, the State of Hesse has the best child 
labor laws, and four out of five Hessian cities have 
school feeding. Over one-half of all the cities in 
the Empire with school feeding are in Prussia, 
where compulsory education dates from 1802. 

CO-OPERATION OF ORGANIZATIONS WITH SCHOOL 

Whatever the source of funds supporting the 
meals there is in all cases the closest co-operation 
between the school authorities and those in charge 
of the school meals. In the majority of cases it is 
the teachers who determine which children shall 



MEALS IN GERMAN CITIES 117 

receive the meals. In a few cases, where the meals 
are supported by public though not school funds, 
the preliminary investigation is made by the public 
poor officials. The meals are nearly always served 
in the school buildings, and the supervision of 
the children at their meals is nearly always done by 
the teachers. In Munich, a municipal ordinance 
passed in 1874 and still operative provides for the 
supervision of the children during meals and after, 
before the afternoon work begins. 

There is the greatest variety in the number of 
months during the year that the meals are served 
in the different cities. Of 151 places reporting 
over a third have meals from 3 to 5 months in the 
winter; in a quarter they are open from 2 to 3 
months; in about one per cent, they are open 
throughout the school year; and in 32 or one- 
fifth of all, for the entire year, winter and summer. 
Another point of difference is the kind of meal 
served, the majority of places giving breakfasts, 
some dinners, and some giving both meals. Finally 
there is the fact that some organizations serve 
meals only to the poorest children while others 
conduct regular school restaurants, where all may 
come who care to pay the cost of the food. 



118 SCHOOL FEEDING 

Because of this great diversity in the form of 
organization and the length of service a summary 
as to the number of children involved or the cost 
of the work is well nigh meaningless. However, 
from 189 cities enough data were given to make 
possible the general statement that school feeding 
of some kind reaches some time during the year 
111,000 children, who form 6.5 per cent, of the 
total school population in those cities. 

The general statement that 6.5 per cent, of the 
children are served does not hold uniformly for all 
states in the Empire. For example, in Saxony 
the numbers fed form slightly less than 2 per cent, 
of the whole, while in Alsace-Lorraine, the! 
numbers fed formed 1 1 per cent. ; in Wurtemburg, 
12 per cent.; in Hesse, where 3 cities out of 4 
provide school meals, 14 per cent.; and in Baden, 
16 per cent. These figures vary even more widely 
in the separate cities, as in some cities only one- 
half of one per cent, of the children attend the 
meals, while in others, for example, Konstance, the 
numbers form as much as 34 per cent, of the total 
school population. 



MEALS IN GERMAN CITIES 119 

EXPENSE 

The total expenditure in 160 cities reached in 
1 907- 1 908, $146,136, exclusive of the amounts 
paid for the meals, by the children themselves. 
About one-quarter of the children pay 2 cents for 
breakfasts and 3 cents for dinner. 

An estimate was made by Dr. Kaup of the prob- 
able expense of extending the present system of 
school feeding to all cities, and having the same 
percentage of children fed on every school day 
during the year. This would amount to 8,330,333 
marks, or $1,666,066. 

In the open air schools in Charlottenberg, the 
question of food preparation has been so carefully 
studied, that the expense of feeding each child five 
meals, one of which is a substantial dinner — is a 
trifle over nine cents a day. If the same care were 
exercised in the preparation of the lunches in the 
ordinary schools, $1,666,066 would be sufficient to 
supply all needy children in city and country with a 
milk breakfast and a warm dinner every day in 
the year. 

The following statements are a summary of the 



120 SCHOOL FEEDING 

present provisions made in German cities for school 
feeding : 

From an inquiry sent to 525 cities with 10,000 inhabitants 
and over, replies were received from 487. 

Of the 487, 239 reported some form of school feeding and 
189 gave details of organization. In 189 cities the financial 
support of the school feeding was entirely municipal in 43; 
partially private and partially public in 68; and entirely 
private in 78. 

A total number of 111,000 children are fed in 189 cities, 
these forming over 6 per cent, of the total school population 
in these cities. 

THE FOOD HABITS OF GERMAN CHILDREN 

The next important thing to determine was how 
well the organizations for school feeding were meet- 
ing the need, and this meant that the real conditions 
of school children in general must be known; first 
the actual food consumed daily, and then, how the 
children were thriving, or failing to thrive on their 
diet. 

Careful inquiries were made by teachers and 
doctors and social workers in winter and summer, 
and the results obtained made it possible to account 
for the food habits of over 500,000 children, with 
a fair amount of detail. The inquiry embraced 



MEALS IN GERMAN CITIES 121 

altogether 74 cities, details for the summer months 
being had for only 53 of these. With eight ex- 
ceptions, the cities involved were small, that is with 
less than 50,000 inhabitants and most of them with 
10,000 to 20,000. The conditions therefore may 
all the more be taken as typical of the country at 
large and not merely as exaggerated results of 
congestion. 

In general the findings of this inquiry were as 
follows : 

For breakfast, 80 per cent, of the children, in 
all classes of society throughout these cities, have 
coffee, mostly with but some without rolls or bread. 
Ten per cent, have milk in some form, usually bread 
and milk. Five per cent, have tea or cocoa and 
bread. Nine per cent, have other things — soup, 
eggs, etc. Finally, over one per cent, have no 
breakfast of any kind, despite the widespread pro- 
vision of school breakfasts. In some cities the 
number of children without breakfast of any kind 
reached 8 per cent, of the school population. As- 
suming that the average percentage holds through- 
out all cities, there are over 30,000 children going 
daily to school without breakfast. 

The large majority of children have a warm mid- 



122 SCHOOL FEEDING 

day meal, either at home or in school. About 5 
per cent, of all have a cold lunch in winter. This 
percentage runs much higher in industrial centres, 
so that, in some factory towns, as many as one- 
quarter of the children have a cold lunch, sometimes 
of very meagre quality. Assuming again that the 
general per cent, of 5 holds in all cities, there are 
170,000 children who ordinarily have a cold lunch, 
often of an entirely inadequate nature for their only 
midday meal. 

For supper, about half have a warm meal, and 
about half a cold lunch. Less than 1 per cent, of 
all go supperless to bed, though here the figures 
vary considerably in different places. The custom 
of having the children wait till night for a warm 
dinner is growing rapidly, especially in large towns 
where the mothers are working away from home 
all day. In Berlin, whose figures have not been 
included in the data given so far, 7 per cent, of 
the children reported that their main meal was 
between six and seven at night. 

One rather disquieting discovery was the extent 
to which alcohol is used — 23 cities reported 2 per 
cent, of children receiving alcohol in some form at 
breakfast; 40 cities reported 4 per cent, having it 



MEALS IN GERMAN CITIES 123 

at dinner, while 36 cities reported 5.2 per cent, hav- 
ing it in the evening. This makes a total of 18,299 
children having alcohol as a rule once a day. 

This survey of the food habits, while suggestive, 
could not give an adequate view of the nutrition 
of the children, because in so extensive an inquiry 
the questions of quantity and quality of the food 
eaten might not be considered. 

A superficial survey made by teachers of nearly 
170,000 children, showed 12 per cent, well nour- 
ished, 23 fairly and only 5 per cent, badly. But 
this was admittedly the result of a superficial in- 
spection, and was not regarded as at all exact. 

Later, a special examination of 27,440 of these 
children, of all social grades, in 22 cities, was made 
by medical inspectors. They found 11,422 chil- 
dren, or 42 per cent., whom they were able to term 
well nourished. About fifty per cent., 13,823, were 
fairly well nourished. The remainder, 2,195, or 
8 per cent., were distinctly undernourished. 

MAIN CAUSE FOR SERIOUS UNDERFEEDING 

Throughout this inquiry special attention was 
paid to the economic and social causes for the 
large amount of serious underfeeding everywhere 



124 SCHOOL FEEDING 

evident. Specific data were gathered in the cases 
of over 23,000 children, by doctors, teachers and 
social workers who visited the homes and left no 
stone unturned to get accurate and adequate infor- 
mation, filling out elaborate blanks for each child. 3 

The causes discovered in this way were grouped 
in the original report under eleven different heads, 
as follows : Chronic poverty, sickness of bread win- 
ner, death of bread winner, unemployment, family 
too large for the income, child labor, mother's em- 
ployment outside the home, culpable neglect by 
lazy and drunken parents, children's haste and loss 
of appetite, from nervousness or illness, long dis- 
tance to school, and miscellaneous. 

The first six causes may be grouped as " Poverty." 
The mother's employment outside the home is an 
increasingly important factor socially; although it 
as a rule belongs logically under the caption " Pov- 
erty," it is listed separately. Haste and loss of 
appetite from illness or from nervousness, may be 
grouped as loss of appetite. The long distance from 
school, a cause of no breakfast and a scanty lunch, 
was found chiefly in the smaller towns. Culpable 
neglect was found in relatively few cases. Finally 

8 Kaup, pp. 71-72 and 93~94- 



MEALS IN GERMAN CITIES 125 

under the head miscellaneous came sporadic ac- 
cidents, temporary illness of children, deserted 
mothers, and many other ill-defined factors which 
probably all belonged in other groups. 

The relative importance of these various causes 
in producing malnutrition is shown in the following 

table : 

Table 4 

Causes Number Percentage 

of Cases of Total 

i. Poverty 14,725 62 

2. Miscellaneous 2,986 12 

3. Loss of appetite 2,709 11 

4. Mother works out 1,653 7 

5. Culpable neglect 1,093 5 

6. Long distance 446 2 

Totals 23,612 99 

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION 

The conclusion arrived at by the delegates to* the 
national conference of the League of Social Wel- 
fare where this report was presented, and discussed 
during three days, was as follows : 

A survey of children representing all social classes 
and all school grades had shown that there was 
undoubted need existing for some sort of provision 
of meals at school, not only to relieve distress, but 
to educate, and raise food standards. 



126 SCHOOL FEEDING 

The amount of extreme need as shown by acute 
malnutrition, represented, according to* the doctors, 
about 8 per cent, of the whole school population. In 
addition to the acute cases, 50 per cent, of the 
children were only fairly well nourished, leaving 
only 42 per cent, who were really well nourished. 

This condition of insufficient feeding and under- 
feeding was fully accounted for in the study made 
of the home feeding of the children, when it was 
discovered that 80 per cent, of the children had 
breakfasts of coffee and bread, and thousands had 
none at all, while many thousands went till evening 
before having a warm meal. 

Underfeeding was found to have a hindering 
effect on school progress, because the children were 
dull and listless in work and play. Evidence was 
submitted to show that malnutrition lay at the bot- 
tom of many diseases and physical defects in school 
children. For example, Dr. Delitsch of Plauen said 
that food was quite as necessary as medicine in 
helping certain eye and ear troubles that result from 
scrofula, and also in preventing the development of 
tuberculosis. Underfeeding during childhood was 
further held responsible for the failing war strength 
of the country. 



MEALS IN GERMAN CITIES 127 

Not quite half the cities were making any sort 
of provision for school meals. 

Even where meals were served they were reach- 
ing but a trifle over 6 per cent, of the children. The 
need was the same in towns without provision, and 
in country districts. 

The meals as usually given were inadequate in 
quality and amount, and even at that were not 
served throughout the year. 

PROPOSED NATIONAL PROGRAM 

Various plans for future work in school feed- 
ing were discussed at the conference. 4 Among 
those that found most favor were the suggestions 
made by Dr. Max Rubner of Berlin University, 
who said that school feeding must be considered as 
one phase of the larger problem of the nutrition of 
the people as a whole. A definite plan for a cam- 
paign for national legislation was then presented by 
Miss Helene Simon, a well known German writer 
on social economy, who is a leader in the school 
feeding movement and the author of several books 
on the subject. 

* Kaup, Die Ernahrungsverhaltnisse der Volkschulkinder, 
p. 132, ff. 



128 SCHOOL FEEDING 

The most significant of Dr. Rubner's suggestions 
were the following: 

" Since the problem of nutrition for school chil- 
dren is part of the larger food problem, all measures 
taken to influence this last will of course have a 
great influence on the first. Among the necessary 
reforms affecting the nutrition of the people as a 
whole are: 

"(a) Widespread education in all that has to* do 
with nutrition, and the determining of the correct 
nutritional minima upon physiological grounds. 

"(b) Selling of foodstuffs, etc., at cost in 
municipal markets and stores to poor families, es- 
pecially those with a large number of children. 

"(c) Establishment of People's Diet Kitchens by 
municipal and by private societies." 

PROVISION FOR NATIONAL LEGISLATION 

The following summary for the provisions that 
should be made in any national legislation on School 
Feeding that might be undertaken, was made by 
Helene Simon, who considers that this legislation 
to be effective must be compulsory. 5 

6 This was printed in the form given, in Simon, Helene, 
Schulspeisung, pp. 77-78. 



MEALS IN GERMAN CITIES 129 

(a) School feeding must be provided where it is an 
assured need. The children of those parents who are on the 
lists of chanty associations as well as those who pay no 
taxes, i.e., whose income falls below 900 marks, shall be con- 
sidered as needy without further question. 

(b) Lists of cases requiring help shall be made out and 
investigated periodically. 

(c) The dietaries shall be determined on physiological 
grounds. Provision should be made possible for breakfast 
and dinner, for the whole year. Needy children shall be fed 
every day. 

(d) The rooms where the meals are held should be in 
the schools or in adjoining buildings. All details and direc- 
tions as to the kind, time, place and organization of feeding, 
must be left to the discretion of the local municipalities and 
school boards. Only where these neglect their duty or do not 
carry out in the right way shall the State Supervision Board 
interfere. 

It will be noted that these proposed measures 
do not differ very much from those in the Pro- 
vision of Meals Act in England, except for the 
fact that they are designed to be compulsory. 

Since the conference in May, 1909, the question 
of school feeding has been given increasing atten- 
tion in Germany, and there is every indication that 
a national act will be passed at no far distant date. 
9 



VI 

School Feeding in Other European Countries 



COMPULSORY EDUCATION AND SCHOOL MEALS IN 

HOLLAND 

Holland was the first country to have national 
legislation providing for school meals. The law 
of 1900 enforcing compulsory education contained 
a section authorizing the municipalities to provide 
food and clothing for all school children whether 
in public or private schools " who were unable, be- 
cause of the lack of food and clothes, to go regularly 
to school or to those who probably would not con- 
tinue to attend school regularly unless food and 
clothes were provided." 

The law provided that this work might be done 
directly or by supporting voluntary societies. Up 
to this time considerable school feeding had been 
done by voluntary societies and as early as 1892 
no fewer than 53 communities had such provisions. 
By 1907 there were 37 towns that had adopted the 
provisions of the act, in accordance with the Royal 
130 



IN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES 131 

Decree, and were contributing wholly or in part to 
the school feeding. 

The organization is about the same as in other 
countries, except that the work is almost entirely 
confined to giving free meals to those in absolute 
need. The work, however, is entirely a school affair. 
Teachers and principals select the children and have 
charge of the meal tickets. The cost per meal is 
restricted by law, not to exceed one cent and a 
half. According to reports from n cities a total 
of 17,000 children are fed every school day. Some 
of the towns, for example Amsterdam, provide 
meals winter and summer. 

HOW THE SWISS GOVERNMENT PROVIDES FOR SCHOOL 

MEALS 

The finest buildings in the Swiss towns are the 
school houses. But the principle on which they are 
built seems to be that it is better to have a relatively 
small number, far apart but of excellent quality, 
than to sacrifice this excellence by having more of 
them nearer together. This means that a good many 
children have a long way to go to school, and so, as 
it is impossible to go home at noon, a warm lunch, 
usually of soup and bread, but sometimes of soup, 



132 SCHOOL FEEDING 

meat and vegetables, is provided in most schools. 
The public funds are used for this purpose, and the 
lunches are free in the larger number of cases. 

Eighteen years ago, in 1894, the Federal Bureau 
of Statistics 1 found that no less than 35,000 children, 
or eight per cent, of the primary school enrolment, 
were receiving lunches at noon, and that 23,000 of 
these had over a half hour's walk from home. In 
other words one child in each twelve received a 
school lunch, the usual reason being that it was too 
far for him to go home at noon. 

Most of the lunches provided in this way had 
originally been started by private societies, some- 
times with the object of promoting school attend- 
ance and more rarely as charitable relief measures. 
At the time of the government investigation cited 
above, the support of the work had been largely 
taken over by the municipalities and cantons. 

Dr. Huber, the official who made the investiga- 
tion, stated that the results of school feeding had 
been universally praised by teachers, who testified 
that because of the lunches there was better school 
attendance, better attention and better results in 

a Jahrbuch des Unterrichtswesens in der Schweiz, 1894. 
Federal Bureau of Statistics, Bern, Switzerland. 



IN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES 133 

studies as a consequence of better health. Dr. 
Huber was convinced that the work should be ex- 
tended to accommodate at least 50,000 children, or 
ten per cent, of the school population. 

Nine years after this, in 1903, the Federal Gov- 
ernment issued an order in regard to the support 
of the public elementary schools, which put the 
cantons under obligation to supply food and cloth- 
ing to whatever children were in need. 2 

During the next three years the work of school 
feeding spread rapidly, and in 1906 the Federal 
authorities authorized the use of state funds for 
their support, as well as for vacation colonies and 
milk stations, but with the understanding that in 
no case should the cantonal or city support be les- 
sened because of the Federal support. 

Switzerland, following Holland's lead of 1900, 
was thus the second country to make national 
provision for school meals. The point which dis- 
tinguishes her legislation from either Holland's or 
the English Provision of Meals Act of 1906, is that 
the Federal ruling of 1903 was obligatory. 

Before Federal funds were available, it was the 
custom to use the money raised by the tax on 

2 Educational Act, January, 1903. Art. 2, Section 8. 



134 SCHOOL FEEDING 

alcohol to pay for the lunches, and this form of 
poetic justice is still effective in several cantons. 
Another source of income, before the state assumed 
more direct responsibility, was from the " school 
funds" (Schulkassen) that had their origin in a 
quaint old custom of the young people giving a 
sort of thank-offering to the village for their school- 
ing when the time came for them to be married. 
These funds, which were the precursors of the 
Caisses d'ficoles of France, were used to encourage 
school attendance, by supplying medals and books 
and to support vacation colonies, school baths and 
other outside activities of the school. 

The latest report on school feeding in Switzer- 
land, made in 1908 by Dr. Erismann, the head 
medical inspector in Zurich, showed that eighteen 
of the nineteen large cities have provisions for 
school meals. 

The movement is not confined to the cities, but 
has developed quite as much in the country districts. 
Thus the central authorities reported that eighteen 
of the twenty-five cantons give subsidies for school 
meals. 

Sufficient data are not available to make a definite 
statement of the exact number of towns having 



IN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES 135 

school meals, the number of children fed, etc., 
but it is safe to say that lack' of provision is the 
exception. 

The subsidies from state and canton frequently 
cover 50 per cent, of the entire cost, and a good 
share of the remainder is paid by city or village 
funds, leaving only a very small part to be raised 
by private endeavor. 

The subsidies are distributed to the schools in 
different ways. In some places the state or canton 
or both are responsible for a certain percentage of 
the entire cost, whatever this may be. In others a 
special rate per child is decided upon, as for example, 
in Uri, the state provides an annual amount, 25 
cents per child, and the canton supplies the balance 
of the cost. The larger cities provide their own 
funds, with only a slight subsidy from the cantons 
or state. 

An idea of the exact care with which the meals are 
administered may be gained from conditions in 
the city of Zurich, which may be regarded as 
typical of those in Switzerland as a whole. In this 
city, parents fill out application blanks for the meals 
in the same way that they do in Bradford and 
Charlottenburg. (Appendices C, D.) There are 



136 SCHOOL FEEDING 

careful regulations for the conduct of the meals 
themselves, both in their preparation and service. 
The bread must be cut so that each slice weighs ioo 
grams. Bread and cheese or bread and sausage 
are served only after the child has eaten at least one 
plate of soup. 

The boys and girls eat at separate tables, each 
group being made up of older and younger chil- 
dren, in a " family." The older children are ex- 
pected to look after the younger ones, and see that 
they get all they want. In some of the schools hav- 
ing kitchens and dining-rooms in the building, the 
older girls and boys help in the clearing away and 
washing of the dishes. The teachers are held re- 
sponsible for overseeing the work, appointing the 
monitors and keeping the reports. 

Care is taken to make the school meals come up 
to the right standard of food value, and the city 
requires that on certain days at least, cheese or 
sausage shall be given with the bread and soup. 
This is owing to the work of the chief medical 
inspector, Dr. Erismann, who found in 1901 that 
the meals were unplanned, and lacking particularly 
in protein and fat. 

Dr. Erismann gives the following points among 
his conclusions in regard to school feeding, after 



IN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES 137 

studying the question throughout Switzerland, and 
after many years of practical experience in Zurich. 3 
What makes these recommendations of particular 
value is that each one has been tried out in prac- 
tice in some part of Switzerland. 

i. Provisions for a free meal at noon should be made every- 
where, and meals provided for: (a) school children 
coming a long distance each day from home; (b) 
school children who are undernourished on account of 
the poverty of their parents; (c) school children whose 
parents are away at noon. 

2. Children whose parents so desire should be able to buy a 

meal at cost, where there is no question of poverty. 
The price asked should never exceed the actual cost of 
the food. 

3. All children who on account of poverty do not receive a 

sufficiently nourishing breakfast should be given warm 
milk and bread at school before lessons. 

4. The school lunch should be a full nourishing meal. The 

portions should have enough food value to furnish 816 
Calories or one-half the day's required total of Calories 
per child. It should be especially rich in protein and 
fat and the food values should be distributed in about 
the following amounts : 40 grams protein, 26 grams 
fat, 100 grams carbohydrate for a ten-year-old child. 
Proper variety should be insisted on. 

5. The supply of food to poor children must never be re- 

garded as charity or pauperizing in any way. 

8 Erismann, Dr. F., Stadtrat, Zurich, Ernahrung und Kleid- 
ung durftiger Schulkinder, 1908. 



138 SCHOOL FEEDING 

Dr. Erismann's outline shows the ideal held by 
workers in school meals in Switzerland. This ideal 
is already carried out in many parts of the country. 
Stated in brief it calls for school lunches for all, 
free to those who cannot pay, as a help to efficient 
education, and of such a character as to raise the 
physical standard of the children's development. 

REFEZIONE SCOLASTICA IN ITALIAN CITIES 

School feeding as a municipal venture began in 
1896, when the Council at San Remo reorganized 
as a regular city institution the system of school 
meals, till then supported privately. Other cities 
followed San Remo's example until at present there 
are fifty cities with school feeding organizations, 
over half of which are supported and administered 
entirely by the community, and the rest of which 
are administered by specially subsidized voluntary 
committees under the supervision of the city officials. 

Milan, — The work in Milan is typical of the 
Italian organizations generally. It was begun in 
1894 by a semi-official body known as the Com- 
mittee of Patronage. In 1900, the city, then under 
a conservative administration, assumed control and 
introduced a system of lunches into all schools. 

At first these lunches consisted simply of sand- 



IN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES 139 

wiches made with sausage, cheese or sliced meat, 
costing i or 1.2 cents. In 1904 warm meals were 
introduced in certain schools and are gradually 
being installed in all, consisting of soup and bread, 
or rice pilaff, meat or cheese and macaroni. Olive 
oil is used in the preparation of these dishes so that 
there is a maximum of food value. The portions 
are slightly larger for the older children; for ex- 
ample, the bread is cut so that the three younger 
classes receive 120 grams and the three older classes 
150 grams; the rice is served in portions of 300 
grams for the little children and 355 grams for the 
older ones. Delicate children are given eggs in 
place of the regular menus. 

The entire cost including preparation and ad- 
ministration of the warm lunch is 1.4. The meal 
tickets are one and one-half cents. 

There are at present an average of 17,600 chil- 
dren in daily attendance and these form 38 per cent, 
of the entire enrolment. Of these 30 per cent, re- 
ceive their meals free. The total expense to the 
city was $81,322 in 1908-1909. This amount in- 
cludes the special fee paid to the teachers who super- 
vise the children and eat with them. 

One of the results of the school lunches in Milan 
has been to decrease the number of absences. Be- 



140 SCHOOL FEEDING 

fore 1894 the average daily absence was 28 per cent, 
of the school enrolment; this number steadily fell 
until 11 years later the average number of absences 
formed but 6 per cent, of the school enrolment. 

Other Cities. — In general the Refezione Scolas- 
tica are, like the Paris Cantines, designed to be 
school restaurants, open to all who may care to 
come. As a result a larger proportion of school 
children attend than is the case in any other country. 
In the large cities, Rome, Genoa, Padua, Venice, 
etc., the meals are attended by about one-half of 
the children and are paid for in a large majority 
of cases. The average attendance in forty-three 
cities was about 100,000 in 1908- 1909, and this 
formed 37 per cent, of the entire school population, 
while in several the attendance rose to over 70 per 
cent. The total expense to the cities in 44 cases 
was nearly $215,000 in this year. 4 

Experiments with Free and Compulsory Feed- 
ing? — In several towns the experiment was tried, 
of having the meals free for all and attendance upon 
them compulsory in the same way that school at- 

4 Information sent to writer by Alessandro Schiavi, direc- 
tor of Bureau of Labor, of the Societa Umanitaria, Milan. 

5 Lancet Reports, and Spargo's Bitter Cry of the Children, 
App. A and B. 



IN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES 141 

tendance is compulsory. In Vercelli, the best known 
of these places, it was not altogether a success, 
because it was found too expensive to provide a 
really adequate meal for all, free. If a cold meal 
with a rather low food value was served it was 
possible to provide for all, but this did not meet 
the real need. After six years of trial Vercelli 
returned to a method similar to that of Milan, where 
warm meals are served to a large proportion of the 
children, but are free only to- those children who 
are known to be unable to pay. 6 

Padua. — The work in Padua is distinguished for 
being the first in the world where an attempt was 
made to have the school meals planned scientifically 
to meet the special needs of the children. Dr. 
Tonsig, the director of medical inspection, plans the 
meals so that they furnish one-half of the day's 
total need and are so proportioned that three- 
quarters of the necessary fat and protein are pro- 
vided. The fact that 69 per cent, of the children 
attend the meals makes this careful planning of 
considerable importance. Padua's example has been 
followed in many other cities. 

6 Letter from the Director of Public Instruction in Ver- 
celli to His Excellency Mayor des Planches, the Italian 
Ambassador at Washington, June 11, 1910. 



142 SCHOOL FEEDING 

In the smaller Italian towns and villages the cus- 
tom is followed of having the meals served out of 
doors in fine weather. In several places it is re- 
ported that street begging of the children ceased 
after the introduction of the meals. 

To summarize : School feeding is now thoroughly 
established in Italian cities, most of which provide 
school restaurants serving daily on an average over 
a third and in many cases over two-thirds of the 
children. The large numbers involved make the 
Italian school meals more important from an edu- 
cational point of view than they are in any other 
country. The meals are supervised by teachers who 
are paid an additional fee for these services. Special 
care is given to the scientific planning of the meals to 
serve the physiological needs of growing children. 

One specially interesting thing about the Italian 
school feeding is that it was begun in San Remo 
15 years ago when the majority of the council 
happened to be Socialists. For this reason, the 
movement was looked upon with distrust and was 
opposed by conservatives in San Remo and other 
cities. But the good effect of the meals on school 
progress was so apparent as to overcome political 
prejudice, and now the different parties vie with 



IN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES 143 

each other in formulating in their platforms at- 
tractive plans for school feeding. Moreover the 
majority of the meals are paid for and this Social- 
istic activity contrary to prophecies has not resulted 
in the " pauperization " of the children. 

Austria. — There is no national school feeding 
movement in Austria, but most of the larger cities 
have organized provisions. In Vienna a central 
school feeding society has been in existence for over 
twenty years, having charge of the work through- 
out the city. In 1907- 1908 the meals were served 
to 10,583 children at a total expense of $35,737, 
of which $20,000 was furnished as a city subsidy. 
In spite of this activity, all who need it are not fed 
and the meals are continued for four winter months 
only. The meals are inadequate in every way, 
especially in the outlying districts. For these 
reasons the city is gradually assuming direct con- 
trol. Kitchens and dining-rooms were built in 1909 
in four new public schools and this work is being 
extended in all city schools. 

Sweden. — Most large Swedish towns have well 
organized systems of school meals, some of them 
twenty years old. The majority of these are ad- 



1U SCHOOL FEEDING 

ministered by subsidized societies with cooperation 
by the school authorities. In larger and newer city 
schools, kitchens and dining-rooms are provided 
and the work is being gradually taken into direct 
control by the city authorities. From 8 to 32 per 
cent, of the children in the different cities attend the 
meals. 

The principle is everywhere recognized of pro- 
viding food for the poorest children first. In some 
places a regular dinner of soup, meat and bread is 
given every day in the week to the very poorest 
children, and on three days only to others. In some 
places breakfasts of milk and soup are served. 
Where there are cooking classes, these prepare each 
day the meals for a small number, not usually more 
than twenty. The teachers pick out the poorest 
children and meals are given free or at a slight 
cost, according to the ability of the children's par- 
ents to pay, as determined by special investigation. 

In Sweden the problem of school feeding in 
country districts has received considerable atten- 
tion, because the schools are so far apart that in 
some cases, the children have to walk as much as 
twelve miles each day to and from school. As a 
result, in about twenty places the system of warm 



IN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES 145 

midday meals has been introduced. In some cases 
these meals are simply warm milk and cocoa, or 
soup, designed to supplement the lunches from 
home, and in others a regular meal is given. 

Norway. — Christiania has had a municipal ser- 
vice of meals since 1897. A midday meal is pro- 
vided every day during the fall and winter terms. 
There is a large school kitchen on the Bradford 
plan from which the meals are sent to the different 
schools, each one of which is equipped with a special 
dining-room. Two days in the week meat is given 
and the other days cereal with milk, and every 
child is allowed as much as it wants. During the 
year 1 907-1 908, 6000 children out of a total of 
30,000 were fed, and a great majority of the meals 
were free, only 11 per cent, being paid for, at a 
rate of 2.5 cents apiece. School meals are found 
in many other Norwegian cities. 

Belgium. — Belgium has no compulsory school 
law, but it has a school feeding problem. The gen- 
eral custom in cities is to provide food at least in 
the kindergartens and in the guardian schools which 
are for very poor children, or for children whose 

parents work away from home at day. In many 
10 



146 SCHOOL FEEDING 

places there are subsidized organizations providing 
meals in the regular elementary schools. In 1888 
a private society, with the consent of the educa- 
tional authorities, began to provide a warm meal 
at noon for the poorest children. Six years later 
an investigation of underfeeding was made by the 
school authorities and from daily reports by teachers 
and directors covering 14,500 cases, it was found 
that 23 per cent, were underfed. As a result the 
city granted a subsidy of $1000 to the society, to 
provide meals, and by 1906 this subsidy had been 
more than doubled. 

Denmark. — In 1902 a provisory law was passed 
allowing municipal subsidies to private societies for 
school feeding, whose work in some cities was over 
30 years old. Although a number of cities have 
adopted the act, in 1907 a campaign was begun 
for compulsory national legislation, because it 
has been found that while meals were more 
and more a necessity in city schools, local initiative 
and private effort even with the help of city sub- 
sidies, could not be relied upon to furnish them in 
an adequate manner. 



VII 

Lunches in American Elementary Schools 



LUNCHES AND EXPERIMENTS IN 
NEW YORK CITY 

" Again I appeal to you, in the name of suffer- 
ing childhood, to establish in each school facilities 
whereby the pupils may obtain simple wholesome 
food at cost price." Superintendent Maxwell of 
New York City made this appeal in his annual re- 
port for 1908. The following fall, with the ap- 
proval of the Board of Education, a school lunch 
committee was formed of physicians and social 
workers who undertook to find out if a three cent 
lunch might be made self-supporting. 

They chose two schools for the experiment, one 
Public School 21, in the Italian district on the lower 
East Side, and the other Public School 51, in a dis- 
trict on the middle West Side where the population 
is largely Irish-American. After two years the 
Board of Education formally endorsed the lunches 
and gave permission to instal them in other schools, 
with the understanding that the Board would sup- 

147 



148 SCHOOL FEEDING 

ply rooms, equipment, and gas, and that the cost of 
the food and of service must be met by the sale 
of meal tickets. The lunches are now being served 
in seven schools in Manhattan under the auspices 
of the School Lunch Committee. Certain schools 
in Brooklyn and Flushing have also been equipped 
to serve lunches through the efforts of individual 
workers. 

ORGANIZATION OF LUNCHES 

In each school there is a superintendent who does 
the buying and oversees the cooking and serving. 
A cook is employed at $i a day. In the Mott Street 
School, No. 21, the meals are served in the base- 
ment yard and the quarters are crowded so that the 
children have to stand at long tables. 

Certain of the older children are chosen for 
helpers, and sell tickets, help serve, and clean and 
wash up afterwards. For this they are given their 
lunches each day. They wear white caps and aprons 
and those who handle the bread wear white gloves. 

The working out of the dietaries is in the hands 
of a physician who has planned them not only in 
accordance with the special needs of growing chil- 
dren but with reference also to the national customs 




WASHING UP AFTER NEW YORK SCHOOL LUNCH 




PREPARATION OF NEW YORK SCHOOL LUNCH 



LUNCHES IN AMERICAN SCHOOLS 149 

of the local population. This means that there is 
considerable difference in the menus of the differ- 
ent schools. The lunches are designed to provide at 
least one-quarter of the necessary daily ration of 
the children ; as a rule one-third, sometimes one-half, 
is actually provided. The main dish is usually a 
substantial soup or stew or a thick rice pudding, 
served with big pieces of bread. In addition there 
are " extras " or desserts, such as cocoa, fruit, 
cakes, lettuce sandwiches and bowls of vegetable 
salad, which cost a cent apiece. There is a rule 
that no child may buy an " extra " until he has 
eaten the regular food. 

EXPENSES IN TWO SCHOOLS 

During 1 909-1 910 the lunches served in the 
Italian district cost $.047 apiece. Those in the 
Irish-American district cost $.048 apiece. During 
the year there was a total expenditure in the two 
schools of $2,453. Because of the fact that a 
number of children were served free and because 
of the expense entailed by an inadequate equipment, 
the receipts for the meal tickets did not quite cover 
the expenses. There was a daily deficit of about 
one cent per meal. The School Lunch Committee 



150 SCHOOL FEEDING 

estimates that the lunches may be made self-sup- 
porting if there are three hundred children buying 
them daily at each school and that this would suffice 
to cover the relatively few free lunches. In the 
first half of the year 1910-1911 the number of 
children fed daily in Public School 21 averaged 230, 
of which 30 were fed free, which means that the 
lunches came nearer to being self-supporting. 

RESULT OF FEEDING ON WEIGHT 

In order to find out what effect one meal a day 
might have on the development of these children, 
a careful record was kept during three months of 
the weights of 143 children who attended the meals 
regularly. At the same time weight records were 
kept of 81 children who did not eat the lunches at 
school. At the end of three months, the children 
taking lunches showed a total net gain of 91 lbs. 
4 oz., while the net gain of the 81 children not tak- 
ing the lunches was 17 pounds. This makes the 
average gain of the children taking the school 
lunches 10.2 ounces, while that of the children not 
taking the lunches was 3.4 ounces. It was found 
that in both groups a certain number showed a loss 
in weight, but that the proportion of those losing 



LUNCHES IN AMERICAN SCHOOLS 151 

was considerably less in the group taking the lunch. 
Careful study of the original figures shows that 
the result of the feeding was not that the children 
who increased in weight gained so much more 
rapidly than is usual, but that more of them gained. 
This emphasizes the real effect for good in one 
planned meal a day at school. 

SCHOOL LUNCHES IN PHILADELPHIA 

School lunches are more than 15 years old in 
Philadelphia and have existed ever since the Starr 
Center Association began them by serving lunches 
at the forenoon recess in several schools. At pres- 
ent the management of the lunches has been taken 
over by the Home and School League and the work 
extended to include some ten schools. The meals 
provided are of two sorts. In some schools there 
is a forenoon lunch given at 10.30, during recess 
time. In others a fuller meal is offered during the 
noon intermission, in addition to the forenoon 
lunch. In all of them the meals are paid for by 
the children and range in price from one cent, which 
is the cost of the forenoon lunch, to three or five 
cents, which purchases the fuller meal provided at 
noon. 



152 SCHOOL FEEDING 

Each morning after the opening exercises, the 
teachers in the schools providing the noon meals 
ask the question, " Which children wish to buy 
lunch tickets to-day?" Then those who want 
lunches go forward to the teacher's desk and buy 
little yellow lunch tickets which cost three cents 
each. The teacher marks their names in a special 
roll and makes out and sends to the school kitchen an 
order slip stating the number of lunches desired. 

At noon, the children, after washing their hands 
and faces, go to the room that is set apart as a 
dining-room, where are long tables covered with 
white oilcloth and set with black japanned trays, 
on which are paper napkins, and part of the lunch 
— usually bread and apple butter, or stewed or fresh 
fruit or a few dates. Then as the children seat 
themselves, at high, low, or middle size tables, 
according to their needs, the servers in white aprons 
bring white enamel bowls filled with soup, corn 
chowder, rice pudding or whatever is the warm 
dish of the day. Each child gives up the little ticket, 
which is destroyed after being counted. 

Besides, the long tables there is a small one on 
which are displayed plates of Graham crackers, 
dates, and most attractive of all, little cakes of sweet 



LUNCHES IN AMERICAN SCHOOLS 153 

chocolate in tin-foil wrappers, three for a cent. 
Children who have not eaten the lunch cannot buy 
the chocolate, but the other things may be bought 
by children who either want to supplement a lunch 
brought from home, or who have not three cents 
to spend. There is always one warm dish to be had 
for a penny in this way, sometimes bean soup, some- 
times warm milk and a half of a shredded wheat 
biscuit. 

In the schools where the forenoon lunches are 
served, the standard price is one cent and for this 
amount the child can buy a simple dish such as bean 
soup, rice pudding, milk toast, creamed potato, 
milk, cocoa, or stewed fruit and shredded wheat. 
In all of the schools the principals and teachers 
enthusiastically co-operate in the work and fre- 
quently buy the lunches themselves. Sometimes 
they sit down with the children to eat and some- 
times the lunches are sent to their rest rooms. 

EQUIPMENT 

The special equipment necessitated by the lunches 
is simple. Each kitchen is fitted with a gas stove, 
large double boilers, agate kettles, and a porcelain 
sink with drainer. The tables are made of long 



154 SCHOOL FEEDING 

boards resting on horses and so are easily taken 
down and set up if the lunch room has to be used 
for other purposes. The tableware consists of white 
enamelled pint bowls, white enamelled half pint 
cups, little trays and spoons. Paper napkins are 
supplied free by a department store for the adver- 
tisement that comes from the legend " Buy it at 
E 's " which is printed on each. 

CLEANLINESS 

The clearing up and washing of the dishes is 
done by " aids," chosen from among the older chil- 
dren, who receive their lunch free for this service. 
The children are not left to themselves in this work, 
but are carefully watched by the worker in charge, 
who sees that the dishes are washed perfectly clean 
and then sterilizes them by pouring boiling water 
over them. Once a week all the dishes are boiled. 
The dish cloths are washed and boiled daily after 
using. 

DIETARIES 

The extreme care in the planning of the dietaries, 
the arrangement of food values in the menus and 
the careful accounting system are the most striking 
things about the lunches. The superintendent plans 





THREE-CENT DINNER IN PHILADELPHIA SCHOOLS. 

IN UPPER PICTURE 



NOTE "PENNY TABLE' 



LUNCHES IN AMERICAN SCHOOLS 155 

the lunches a week ahead in each of the schools, 
having a personal interview with each school 
worker. She does all the buying, and so is sure 
of the quality of the food used. 

In order to simplify the planning of the menus, 
she keeps a card catalog of the different dishes 
served, giving the amount and exact food value of 
each constituent, and the total number of Calories 
per portion, as shown in the accompanying card. 

A minimum requirement that is observed in plan- 
ning each lunch is that one cent shall buy at least 
ioo Calories of food value, and as a rule, one cent 
buys more than this. The menus show considerable 
variety, but dishes that are very popular like rice 
pudding, cocoa and bean soup are given often. 

RECORDS 

A monthly account of the menus, receipts and 
expenditures in each school is kept by the superin- 
tendent on loose-leaf pages like the one shown in 
Table 6. 



156 



SCHOOL FEEDING 



Table 5. Sample Recipe Card Showing Constituents and 
Fuel Values of Ingredients 



lis 












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£ e 
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1 : 



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8. 



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AC 



LUNCHES IN AMERICAN SCHOOLS 157 

Table 6. Monthly Account Sheet in Use for Philadelphia 

Lunches 

Washington School : Saleswoman, Mary Shephard 
school luncheon account 

December 1-2 Luncheon receipts — 1st week $4.12 

December 5-19 Luncheon receipts — 2nd week 1079 

December 12-16 Luncheon receipts — 3rd week 11.63 

December 19-23 Luncheon receipts — 4th week 13.18 

Total $3972 

Crackers $27.96 

Milk (9.12 — 1. 14 discount) 7.98 

Sugar, 9 lbs 45 

Cereals : Oatmeal, 4 lbs 20 

Soup bones, 3 15 

Rice, 3 lbs 25 

Hominy 

Fresh Fruits 

Chestnuts, 4 qts 28 

Dried Fruits, Prunes 09 

Vegetables, Potatoes, Onions 07 

Salt, Pepper, Cinnamon, Nutmeg 

Soap 05 

Total $37.48 

Total receipts $39-72 

Total expenditures 3748 

Balance on hand December 23 $2.24 

The saleswomen at the schools keep daily accounts 
of the menus, the number served, and the money 
collected, delivering the cards weekly to the super- 
intendent. The card shown happens to be one used 
in connection with the penny lunch at 10.30. 



158 



SCHOOL FEEDING 



Table 7. Daily Record Card Kept by Saleswoman at 
School Lunch 



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LUNCHES IN AMERICAN SCHOOLS 159 

FOLLOW-UP WORK 

During the first year the committee in charge 
of the lunches definitely experimented to find out 
which form is best suited to the need of each of 
the various localities. One school in a very poor 
district where large numbers of the children come 
from families frequently dependent on public or 
private charity, is provided with both a forenoon 
lunch and a three cent dinner at noon. A second 
school, in a slightly better district, was equipped 
with a forenoon lunch. A third, in an even better, 
though still poor district, was equipped with a noon- 
day dinner. 

A Home Visitor who was a graduate dietitian 
visited the homes of all the children in the 
three schools, but gave special attention to the 
children who were registered as attending the 
lunches and to those obviously underfed. She 
got as complete an account as possible of the con- 
ditions there, and talked to the mother especially 
about the food of her children. She tried to per- 
suade the mothers to send the children regularly to 
the lunches, whose use and value she explained. In 



160 SCHOOL FEEDING 

the case of children obviously underfed, she advised 
the mother as to the necessary food and treatment. 
If there was special need she referred the case to 
the Society for Organized Charity or some other 
philanthropic body. 

This part of the work was shown to be most 
valuable, and the Home Visitor was retained in- 
definitely as a salaried member of the committee. 

SCHOOL LUNCHES AND CHILDREN'S DEVELOPMENT 

During 1910— 191 1 two studies were made of the 
physical development and school progress of the 
children attending the lunches. 1 In the first experi- 
ment, measurements were taken and recorded of 
362 children from two schools of whom 114 were 
in more or less regular attendance at the noon three 
cent dinner and 248 were not. Among the children 
taking the meals the average number of dinners 
per child was 50.6. Measurements were made of 
weight, height, hand-strength and lung capacity of 
the two groups of children at the beginning and 

1 Annual Report of the School Lunch Committee, Home 
and School League, Philadelphia, 191 1, page 12. 



LUNCHES IN AMERICAN SCHOOLS 161 

end of a six months' period. The gains of the two 
groups are shown in the accompanying table : 

Table 8. Average Gains of Children Attending Lunches 
Voluntarily for Six Months Compared with Average 
Gains of Children Not Attending the School Lunches. 

Hand- Lung 

Weight Height Strength Capacity 

114 "diners" 3-44 lbs. 1.36m. 3.43 lbs. 12.55 cu. in. 

248 "non-diners" ... 3.21 lbs. 1.07 m. 4.18 lbs. 10.47 cu. in. 



In favor of " diners " .23 lb. .29 in. .75 lb. 2.09 cu. in. 

This experiment was designed to show the result 
of what might be called haphazard feeding. No 
special attempt was made to have the children at- 
tend the meals. They came or not according to 
their own choice and the attendance was irregular. 

The second experiment was one in which the 
factors were more definitely controlled. The prin- 
cipal of an elementary school was called on to choose 
80 children who were conspicuously poor and ill- 
nourished. Of these 40 were given a daily dinner 
for three months. The 40 children who were fed 
averaged 55.3 dinners each. At the beginning and 
the end of the period records were kept of the 

weight, height, hand-strength and lung capacity of 
11 



162 SCHOOL FEEDING 

the two groups of children. The average gains of 
the two groups are shown in the following table: 

Table 9. Average Gains During Three Months of Chil- 
dren Fed Regularly Compared with Average Gains of a 
Similar Group of Children Not Fed Regularly. 



Weight Height 

Children fed 1.78 lbs. .90 in. 

Children not fed .. .80 lb. .68 in. 



Hand- 
Strength 


Lung 
Capacity 


3.19 


lbs. 


II.96 


cu. in. 


4-13 


lbs. 


540 


cu. in. 


.94 


lb. 


6.56 


cu. in. 



In favor of children 

fed .98 lb. .22 in. 



LESSON AVERAGES AND CONDUCT 

The physical results were not surprising in view 
of the many similar experiments that have been 
tried elsewhere. More interesting was the study 
made of the marks in school work and conduct of 
the second group of children. Results are shown 
in the following table: 

Table 10. Showing Comparative Marks in Lessons and 
Conduct at Three Months' Interval of Fed with 
Unfed Group of Children. 

Average Average 

Lesson Marks Conduct Marks 

Before After Gain Before After Gain 

The forty fed 64.0 70.1 9.5 69.4 72.0 3.7 

The forty not fed 64.5 69.2 7.2 74.2 76.7 3.3 




JUST TO SHOW HOW IT LOOKS. THREE-CENT DINNER, PHILADELPHIA 




KINDERGARTEN CHILDREN. THREE-CENT DINNER, PHILADELPHIA 



LUNCHES IN AMERICAN SCHOOLS 163 

It will be noted that although the effect of the 
feeding on mental ability and conduct was not great, 
still even in this short time the children fed gained 
perceptibly over their comrades. 

ORGANIZATION 

The School Lunch Committee of Philadelphia 
comprises first, a small Executive Committee meet- 
ing at least twice a month, and an Advisory Board 
of twenty members meeting two or three times a 
year. The Executive Committee is organized as 
follows : 

A superintendent of lunches, an expert dietitian, 
devotes all of her time to the work, planning the 
menus, buying the material and keeping all the 
accounts. Under her are the workers in the various 
schools who do the cooking, serving and immediate 
supervising of the lunches, keeping daily account 
of the number served. 

A specially trained social worker — also a dietitian 
— devotes her time to visiting the homes of the 
children who attend the meals. 

Two members of the Psychological Clinic of the 
University of Pennsylvania serve on this committee 
and in 1910-1911 had charge of the mental and 



164 SCHOOL FEEDING 

physical examinations made to test the value of the 
lunches. 

Finally there are two men who are financially 
responsible and who act as adviser and supervisor 
of the committee. 

The Advisory Board includes in addition to the 
Executive Committee, members of the Board of 
Education, superintendents, teachers, school phy- 
sicians, and persons engaged in social and philan- 
thropic work. To this board are submitted ques- 
tions of general policy and organization and from 
it are elected sub-committees to* work on particular 
problems of administration. 

THE BOSTON MORNING LUNCH 

Although the matter had been under discussion 
for some years, lunches in the Boston Elementary 
Schools were not begun till 1909. Shortly after 
a meeting of the Home Economics Association in 
December, 1909, at which the New York and Phila- 
delphia work was described, a Hygiene Committee 
of the Home and School Associations was formed, 
with the late Prof. Ellen H. Richards as chair- 
man. 2 Work was begun immediately in one of the 

2 Second Annual Report of the Boston Home and School 
Association, Oct., 1910, Boston, Mass., pp. 32~37- 



LUNCHES IN AMERICAN SCHOOLS 165 

schools that was fully equipped with kitchens for 
cooking classes. Before the end of the school year, 
there were lunches in five other schools. The cost 
of equipping these with sinks, stoves, kitchen 
utensils and table ware, etc., was $300. By the fall 
of 191 1 the work had been extended with addi- 
tional appropriations to twenty-two schools. 

Once the equipment was supplied, the lunches 
have been entirely self-supporting. In schools where 
there is a kitchen, the cooking classes prepare and 
serve the meals each day, and here the one cent 
paid by the children has been found ample to cover 
the cost of the food. In other schools, outside help 
is hired and an extra cent per meal ticket meets 
this expense. 

The following dishes are served: Pea soup with 
crackers; potato chowder; corn meal with milk, 
sugar and crackers; rice and prunes with milk and 
sugar and crackers, sandwiches made with peanut 
butter or jam and one-half pint of milk; apple-sago 
pudding ; rice pudding ; Indian pudding ; apple sauce 
and crackers; ginger cookies wth a glass of milk. 

All of the food is chosen with regard to its 
cheapness and to its high nutritive value. Of course 
the fact that the materials are bought at wholesale 



166 SCHOOL FEEDING 

gives a distinct advantage. In general each lunch 
yields a fuel value of 300 Calories. 

The way in which it is possible to serve so satis- 
fying a lunch for one or two cents is explained by 
the statement made by Mrs. Richards, the food ex- 
pert and veteran in the fight for the common health : 
" The milk used is skimmed milk, costing at whole- 
sale about three cents a quart, appreciably lower- 
ing the cost, and the only loss in food value is the 
fat; the casein of the milk which is a valuable and 
expensive element is as high as in whole milk and 
the milk sugar is retained. That fat is made up by 
butterine, a cheaper product than butter which has, 
however, as great a food value and is as easily 
assimilated in most cases. 

" The chairman of the committee took the re- 
sponsibility for the use of these foods. There is 
probably less danger in this combination than in 
the whole milk as commonly found to-day. The 
increase of lactic acid organisms in the skimmed 
milk tends, as Metchnikoff has shown, to crowd 
out others present and the conditions of manufac- 
turing butterine oleomargarine render it exceed- 
ingly improbable that disease germs shall have access 
to the product. 




THE PRINCIPAL EATS DINNER EACH DAY WITH THE CHILDREN IN THIS 
PHILADELPHIA SCHOOL 




THE FIRST SCHOOL LUNCH IN PITTSBURG 



LUNCHES IN AMERICAN SCHOOLS 167 

" Sugar is one of the least expensive as well as 
the cleanest of foods and is used freely. The best 
authorities apparently agree that under four ounces 
a day the child may be allowed it freely. Flour 
in the form of crackers is also inexpensive and 
nutritious. Ferguson's bread proved to be well 
baked and well liked. There is little danger in 
loaf bread which is crusty and baked through." 

The very fact that such care and attention are 
given to the selection of a penny's worth of food 
is a lesson to the mothers, who are encouraged to 
visit the lunches. Mrs. Richards says, " To those 
who give little children a penny to spend without 
any suggestion as to what to* buy with it or where 
to buy it, this extreme care given to a luncheon 
must be a revelation, and in time this influence must 
tell for good. One of the worst habits of children 
of this age is the patronizing of the candy and 
pastry shops." 

So far, if reports from teachers and principals 
are to be trusted, the lunches have been an un- 
qualified success, from a school point of view. The 
children are more attentive and interested than be- 
fore the lunches were started in the lessons during 
the last hour of the morning and this is shown by 
improved recitations. 



168 SCHOOL FEEDING 

In addition, noon lunches are being introduced 
to serve the needs of a large number of chil- 
dren, known as the " shut outs," whose mothers 
are away at noon and who, locked out from their 
homes, roam the streets. It is hoped to form a 
class of these children in each school to prepare 
their own lunch and this, judging from the in- 
terest the cooking classes have taken in working 
to serve real needs, should be a successful venture. 

CINCINNATI PENNY LUNCHES 

In Cincinnati penny lunches have been introduced 
in five schools by the combined efforts of teachers, 
the Civic League and the Council of Jewish Women. 
The School Board pays for the equipment as is the 
custom in most places. The following account is 
taken from a report of the Lunch Committee of one 
of the schools to the School Board. Superintendent 
Dyer in his report of 191 1 remarked that the Board 
should also pay the cook. 

" In beginning our work at the Sherman School 
we realized the fact that this school is not in a 
neighborhood where the direst poverty prevails, but 
where many mothers are the principal wage-earners 
of the family. They have to leave their homes early 



LUNCHES IN AMERICAN SCHOOLS 169 

in the morning, and this is one of the reasons why 
many of the children are obliged to go to school 
without a nourishing breakfast, or with a very 
meagre one. Before a penny lunch was provided, 
it was a frequent occurrence for children to buy, 
during the forenoon recess, at the school gates, for 
the penny or two they brought with them, food 
that was anything but wholesome. As we were 
reliably informed by teachers in the school, it was 
a common occurrence to see children come into the 
school during recess with a pickle in one hand and a 
cone of ice cream in the other. This, with a scanty 
breakfast at home, in many cases was all the food 
obtained by the children until their evening meal. 
Our aim is to give the children something that will 
nourish them at a cost of one cent. 

" EQUIPMENT 

" Our first equipment was donated by generous 
friends. It comprises two fireless cookers, two gas 
cooking stoves without broiler ovens, one gas 
radiator, six wire baskets for sandwiches, four cone 
racks to hold 200, three wooden chopping bowls, 
six large tables covered with white oil cloth, six 
asbestos lids, one dozen tea towels, one-half dozen 



170 SCHOOL FEEDING 

pot cloths, six paring knives, one meat grinder, one 
sandwich cutter, three granite kettles and two col- 
landers, etc. We find it economical not to use a 
refrigerator. All our supplies are delivered daily. 

" THE FOOD THAT IS PROVIDED 

" The following is a complete list of all the 

articles we have provided in the lunch room, each 

item of which is sold for one cent : 

One hot wiener, with one slice rye bread. 

Hot meat sandwich, consisting of chopped boiled beef, with 

two pieces bread. 
One baked sweet potato in jacket. 
Mashed sweet potato in cone. 
Rice pudding in cone (5 cent size). 
Baked beans in cone. 
Baked beans with sausage in cone. 
Boiled baked dried peas with sausage in cone. 
One orange. 
One apple. 
One banana. 
Three figs. 

Three Graham crackers. 
One Graham jelly sandwich. 
Ice cream sandwich, one Graham cracker with slice of 

cream. 
Half orange peeled and one Graham cracker. 
One candy ball (puffed wheat rolled in molasses and 

sugar) . 
Five molasses candy kisses. 
Two small cakes. 



LUNCHES IN AMERICAN SCHOOLS 171 

" We serve five articles each day — two of them 
hot. 

" We change the bills of fare daily. The follow- 
ing are a few samples : 

i. Hot meat sandwich; baked sweet potato; oranges; 
candy balls; Graham crackers. 

2. Hot wieners; rice pudding in cones; candy; bananas; 
cakes. 

3. Baked beans with sausage; hot sweet potatoes; candy 
balls ; ice cream sandwich ; oranges. 

4. Hot wieners; baked beans in cone; Graham crackers; 
candy ; fruit. 

" PURCHASE 

" Our purchases are all made at wholesale prices. 
We have always impressed the dealers that ours is 
philanthropic, not charitable work. And it gives 
us pleasure to state that we have always found them 
responsive in the way of accommodation and liberal 
discounts. 

" In a school of 900 children, we served on an 
average 600 daily. We used twenty loaves of 
bread — fourteen of rye, weighing 18 ounces each, 
and six of white, weighing 12 ounces each. We 
used daily either twenty-five pounds of wieners or 
fifteen pounds of choice solid beef, boiled and 
chopped and mixed with bread crumbs for sand- 



172 SCHOOL FEEDING 

wiches. We used daily either one and one-quarter 
quarts of rice or two quarts of navy beans. These 
are boiled for twenty minutes and put in fireless 
cooker the day before they are used. 

" We give these details in order that they may 
serve as guides for others who may wish to engage 
in similar work. 

" MANAGEMENT 

" We have a corps of directors, one of whom 
serves regularly the same day of each week during 
the entire year. We have also a volunteer corps 
of assistants so arranged that six ladies serve the 
same day each week for one month, thus making 
the task not arduous, but one of pleasure. All ex- 
penses of the lunch room but the salary of our paid 
assistant, who does the cooking, have been met by 
the receipts of the lunch room. The salary of our 
cook is paid out of the Philanthropic Fund of the 
Council. 

" All our receipts being deposited in bank, our 
bills are paid by check, either weekly or monthly, 
out of this account. 

" Since co-operation is the watchword of the day, 
we are now planning to establish a Penny Lunch 
Room Club. We hope thus to meet all the workers 



LUNCHES IN AMERICAN SCHOOLS 173 

of the several school lunch rooms in Cincinnati, 
and by exchange of ideas bring about a perfect 
system and closer affiliation of interest." 

MUNICIPAL SCHOOL LUNCHES IN ST. LOUIS 

In October, 191 1, an experiment was begun to 
extend the luncheon services long provided in high 
schools to the elementary schools of St. Louis. A 
noon lunch is served in five schools in congested sec- 
tions of the city. The lunches are primarily in- 
tended to benefit poorly nourished children, but are 
also designed to provide wholesome food at cost 
to all children who do not eat lunch at home. The 
patronage is entirely voluntary. Approximately 900 
children are served daily in all lunch rooms. The 
manager of one of the high school lunch rooms 
is also the manager of the grade school lunches. 

For about a month the food was prepared at the 
Central High School kitchen and distributed in fire- 
less cookers by rapid delivery to the schools. On 
account of the expense of carriage, this method was 
abandoned for the plan of preparation in the separate 
schools. Luncheons are served under the direction 
of a paid assistant, but the larger girls of the schools 
can receive their lunches as compensation. The 



174 SCHOOL FEEDING 

work of accounting and reporting is handled by the 
principal in each school. The School Board pays 
for equipment and the children's money covers the 
cost and service. 

MENUS 

The following dishes are served, each costing 
2^4 cents: 

i. Soup, baked beans or stew with one slice of 
bread. 

2. One meat sandwich. 

3. One jelly, cheese or salmon sandwich. 

4. One cup of milk and two slices of bread. 

5. One dessert, such as pudding or gingerbread. 

EQUIPMENT 

The equipment provided by the Board comprises 
the following: Two-burner gas stoves, folding 
chairs and kindergarten tables, mugs, plates, tea- 
spoons, tubs for washing dishes and towels, milk 
cans, metal checks and slot boxes for same. 

LUNCHES IN CLASSES FOR MENTALLY DEFECTIVE 

CHILDREN 

There is one form of school lunch that meets with 
immediate approval and is growing rapidly, and that 



LUNCHES IN AMERICAN SCHOOLS 175 

is the lunches served in classes and schools for 
mental defectives. 

In Philadelphia, the School Board has given per- 
mission to the School Lunch Committee to serve 
lunches in all special classes. This work has come 
largely as the results of the demands of special class 
teachers, who eagerly assume the additional re- 
sponsibility which they know will in the end lighten 
their burden. One special difficulty is to get the 
children to remember their pennies; it takes several 
weeks to establish this habit gained by normal chil- 
dren in a few days, but this is valuable training. 

Because the percentage of underfeeding in these 
classes is far greater than among normal children 
— sixty instead of ten — the need for carefully 
planned meals is larger, but there is no difference 
in the kind of food required. There is a real differ- 
ence in service, however, in that these retarded 
children need even more than their brighter fellows 
the training that comes from preparing, serving and 
cleaning up. Indeed, for these children, to whom 
so many of the normal channels of learning are 
closed, the relatively simple movements associated 
with such a fundamental interest as the food in- 
terest afford an unrivalled educational opportunity. 



176 SCHOOL FEEDING 

Fortunately, the fact that the classes are small makes 
it possible to take advantage of this opportunity in 
most places. 

The experience of Milwaukee, where the lunches 
have been organized for several years, is typical. 
Here many of the children in the class are under- 
fed and so the menus are chosen with special care. 
The following things are given: thick vegetable 
soups, or porridges of oatmeal and cornmeal, baked 
beans and potatoes, bread and butter, and plenty of 
milk, with popcorn, peanuts and fruit for dessert. 
The children are taught to set the table, wash and 
wipe the dishes and put the kitchen and dining- 
room in perfect order after the meal. Each child 
has his own particular piece of work to do every 
day. Considerable attention is given to table man- 
ners and to the general appearance of the room and 
table. The dishes are not the heavy white ware so 
often found in institutions, but are delicate and 
pretty and the children are taught to value them and 
care for them. The table is decorated with flowers 
and plants and with colored paper strips. 

The city considers that this work is so impor- 
tant that it bears the entire expense. 




READY TO SERVE RURAL SCHOOL LUNCH. MINNESOTA 




COOKING CORPS IN MINNESOTA RURAL SCHOOL 



\ 



LUNCHES IN AMERICAN SCHOOLS 177 

WARM LUNCHES IN RURAL SCHOOLS 

The lunch problem is an inevitable one in rural 
schools. Children do not live near enough to go 
home at noon. Unlike city children they do not 
have pennies to spend, because ready money is scarce 
even in well-to-do farmers' homes and even if they 
had there would be no place to spend them. The 
solution of this problem is largely left to the chil- 
dren themselves and takes the shape of lunches 
brought in baskets or pails and eaten cold. 

Two solutions are coming into effect to ameliorate 
this condition. The first, which has been tried spor- 
adically in various parts of the country, is to make 
provision for children to warm their home lunches. 
This involves little other equipment than putting a 
top for cooking on the ordinary heating stove. The 
second and better solution is to have in addition to 
this provision one common article of food such as 
a meat stew or warm drink of milk and cocoa. As 
a rule this latter provision is not made on a paying 
basis. The children bring the materials, each one 
according to his ability: a piece of meat, carrots, 
turnips, potatoes, milk, etc. The older girls, with 

12 



178 SCHOOL FEEDING 

the help of the teacher, cook this material in which 
all equally share. 

Plans similar to these are being promoted by 
the Agriculture Division of the University of Min- 
nesota. Where schools are more highly developed 
the lunches take the desirable form of an extension 
of the domestic science work. One plan, described 
in Extension Bulletin No. 19, published in July, 
191 1, by the University of Minnesota, has already 
been adopted by many teachers. 

EQUIPMENT 

The equipment needed for this work is simple. 
First the stove, which is already there, a six or 
eight quart granite kettle, a long wooden or granite 
spoon for stirring and a granite ladle for serving, 
and dish pan and mop for washing up. Paper nap- 
kins should be provided. The children themselves 
can bring the cups and spoons from home and can 
make the dish cloths. They can also make fireless 
cookers, which are especially valuable for cooking 
cereals, boxes for keeping salt, pepper, flour and 
other staples, and cupboards in which to store 
them. 




WARM LUNCH EQUIPMENT OF ONE-ROOM RURAL SCHOOL, MINNESOTA. NOTE 

FIRELESS COOKER 



LUNCHES IN AMERICAN SCHOOLS 179 

TEACHING FOOD VALUES 

The scheme forwarded in Minnesota includes the 
teaching of food values, and with each recipe dis- 
tributed there is a statement of the special value and 
limitation of the main article used. This statement 
is non-technical, and forms a plan for the teacher's 
lesson, including a list of questions covering the 
main points. 

ECONOMY OF TIME 

If work of this sort is to become a practical daily 
routine, care must be taken not to encroach on the 
lesson hours. In one Maine school this was man- 
aged by detailing a force of four children each week, 
to be held responsible for having everything pre- 
pared before ten minutes to nine, putting the food 
on at the proper hour, serving and washing dishes 
and clearing up. None of the distinctly preparatory 
work such as peeling vegetables or cleaning rice 
was done in school hours. 

PLACE OF SERVING 

In the ordinary rural school the classroom is un- 
happily the only place where the meals may be 



180 SCHOOL FEEDING 

served. In warm weather the meals can be taken 
outdoors, and in any case the room should be thor- 
oughly aired. In consolidated schools, which are 
more and more taking the place of the old district 
buildings, attic space that would otherwise go to 
waste may be used nicely, though the ideal is to 
have space for kitchen and dining-room set aside in 
the building plans. 

SUMMARY 

A summary of the advantages of these lunches in 
rural schools includes the obvious one of warm 
food, doing of the work with the responsibility of 
getting ready a strictly limited amount of material 
by a definite time, to meeting the practical test of 
daily eating, learning the food values and finally, 
the civilizing effect of leisureful eating together. 

PRESENT EXTENT OF SCHOOL FEEDING IN 
AMERICA 

Work in the other American cities which has been 
begun in most cases by women's clubs with the 
co-operation of teachers and medical inspectors is 
not essentially different from that already described. 



LUNCHES IN AMERICAN SCHOOLS 181 

Within the past few years, lunches have been intro- 
duced in the following cities : 

Colorado : 
Denver. 

District of Columbia: 
Washington. 

Illinois : 

Chicago. 

Indiana : 

Indianapolis. 

Massachusetts : 
Amherst. 
Boston. 
Greenfield. 
Westford. 

Minnesota : 
St. Paul. 
(Also in rural districts.) 

Missouri : 
St. Louis. 

New York: 

Albany (in a vocational school). 

Buffalo. 

Mill Valley. 

New York City. 

Rochester, 

Ohio: 

Cincinnati. 
Cleveland. 

Louisiana : 

New Orleans. 



182 SCHOOL FEEDING 

Pennsylvania : 
Erie. 

Logansville (consolidated schools). 
Manayunk. 
McKeesport. 
Philadelphia. 
Pittsburgh. 
Wayne. 

Tennessee : 

Memphis (in a night school). 

Texas : 

Houston. 

Wisconsin : 
Eau Gaire. 
Milwaukee. 
Muskegon. 

This work has received much attention by the 
press throughout the country, and has been widely 
discussed at congresses of workers for child wel- 
fare, home economics, educational and medical 
progress. Among places where the introduction of 
school lunches is being seriously considered, in many 
cases by school boards, are the following: Balti- 
more, Md. ; Huntington, Cambridge, Springfield and 
Methuen, Mass.; Concord, Newport, Columbus, 
Salt Lake City, Los Angeles, and Kansas City. 

STATE LEGISLATION 

While no State has as yet enacted legislation pro- 
viding for the maintenance of school lunches, it is 



LUNCHES IN AMERICAN SCHOOLS 183 

significant that in Massachusetts the Education 
Committee of the lower house reported favorably a 
bill introduced early in 1912, authorizing cities and 
towns to provide meals for school children. The 
terms of this bill (No. 729) are as follows: 

Section i. The city council of a city and the selectmen 
of a town may provide meals free or at such price, not ex- 
ceeding the cost, as they may fix, for children attending its 
public schools, and cities and towns may appropriate money 
for this purpose. 

Section 2. This act shall be submitted to the voters of 
any city or town at the municipal election in any year : 
provided, that a petition to that effect, signed by not less than 
five per cent, of the voters, is filed with the city clerk or 
town clerk, as the case may be, not less than one month 
before the said election, and if accepted by a majority of 
the voters voting thereon it shall take effect in such city or 
town. Otherwise this act shall not take effect. 

To prophesy is always dangerous, and doubly so 
in the realm of social movements. But should one 
judge the future of school feeding by comparing 
its history with the records of medical inspection, 
dental inspection and playgrounds, one might well 
hazard the prophecy that within two years school 
lunches will be established parts of the elementary 
school systems of at least one hundred American 
cities. 



VIII 
Provision of Meals in Open Air Schools 

There are three prime requisites for the success- 
ful conduct of an open air school. These are fresh 
air, warm clothing, and an abundance of whole- 
some food. Open air schools are designed to pro- 
vide for the education of physically debilitated chil- 
dren. Their purpose is to make it possible for such 
children to continue their education and at the same 
time regain their lost health and vitality. 

Those who have the most extended experience 
with these new schools agree that proper feeding 
is at least as important a factor in the marvellous 
results obtained as is abundant fresh air. 

GERMANY 

In Germany, where the open air school originated, 
the best practice sanctions such frequent feeding 
that it may almost be termed " forced feeding." 
In the original school at Charlottenburg, the daily 
routine is as follows: 

Children arrive at about a quarter of eight and 
receive a bowl of soup and a slice of bread and 
184 



MEALS IN OPEN AIR SCHOOLS 185 

butter. Classes commence at eight and there is an 
interval of five minutes after every half hour's in- 
struction. At ten o'clock the children receive one 
or two glasses of milk and another slice of bread 
and butter. Dinner is served at half-past twelve 
and consists of about three ounces of meat with 
vegetables and soup. After dinner the children 
rest or sleep for two hours. At four o'clock milk, 
rye bread and jam are given. The last meal con- 
sists of soup and bread and butter and is given at a 
quarter to seven, after which the children return 
home. 

In the Gladbach school the children are given 
breakfast, lunch and supper and half a pint of 
milk. Lunch consists of soup, meat and two 
vegetables. Food is supplied from a neighboring 
sanitarium which makes it cheaper than it would 
otherwise be. The same plan is followed in the 
school at Elberfeld where the food is supplied from 
a neighboring convalescent home. 

ENGLAND 

When the first English school was opened at 
Bostall Wood near London, it was decided that the 
children should be supplied with three good meals 



186 SCHOOL FEEDING 

a day. The food was prepared at a cookery centre 
about a quarter of a mile from the Wood. The 
children received breakfast at 9 a.m., immediately 
after arriving; dinner at 12.30; biscuits and fruit 
at 3.30 and tea at 5.30. The dietary was as follows : 

Breakfast on arrival: 

Oatmeal porridge (medium Scotch meal). 

Syrup. 

Milk, one-half pint. 

Dinner at 12.30 p.m. : 

Meat (4 ozs.) ; fish occasionally. 
Potatoes (6 ozs.). 
Green vegetables in quantity. 
Pudding (6 ozs.) in rotation: 

Suet pudding and treacle. 

Milk pudding. 

Stewed fruit, or fruit in batter, or boiled rice. 

3.30 p.m.: 

Fruit or biscuit. 

Tea, 445 to 545 p.m.: 

Weak tea (mostly milk). 

Bread and butter. 

Jam or syrup twice a week. 

Cake, or currant bread and butter, twice a week. 

The good conduct of the children at meal times 
was particularly noticeable. Before the close of the 



MEALS IN OPEN AIR SCHOOLS 187 

term they acquired a taste for good food and such 
diet as oatmeal porridge and green vegetables, 
which they were not accustomed to and refused to 
eat during the opening days of the experiment. 

At the Thackley School at Bradford only three 
meals a day were provided. The physician in 
charge did not approve of the German practice of 
supplying food more frequently. For breakfast at 
nine o'clock the children had porridge, syrup, half 
a pint of milk, brown or white bread and butter. 
The first morning many of the children refused to 
eat the porridge or would take only a mouthful or 
two. In a few mornings, however, it was enjoyed 
by practically all of them. Dinner came at 12.30 
and was cooked on the premises. The menu varied 
from day to day, the first and second courses being 
chosen from among the following : 

First Course. — Scotch barley broth; tomato soup; meat 
and potato hash; Shepherd's pie, gravy and green peas (or 
carrots and turnips) ; Yorkshire pudding, with gravy and 
green peas ; stewed beef with onions, carrots and turnips ; 
stewed fish, parsley sauce, mashed potatoes and green peas. 

Second Course. — Sultana or jam roly poly pudding; fruit 
tart; baked currant pudding and sweet sauce; baked jam 
roll ; boiled fruit pudding (plum or apple) ; milk pudding 
in variety with stewed fruit; boiled rice and sultanas; corn- 
flour blancmange. 



188 SCHOOL FEEDING 

Tea at 5 p.m. consisted of milk (yi pint) ; bread (brown 
or white); butter or jam; wholemeal cake occasionally. 

The dietary now followed at the Sheffield School 
is typical of present English practice. Breakfasts 
consist of porridge and milk, with treacle or sugar. 
The dinner consists of two dishes daily, the follow- 
ing routine being observed: 

Monday: 1. Lentil soup and bread. 2. Rice and stewed 
fruit. 

Tuesday: 1. Cold rolled boiled beef, cabbage and potatoes. 
2. Boiled suet puddings with currants. 

Wednesday: 1. Mutton broth and bread. 2. Mutton (boiled 
in soup), potatoes, carrots, and turnips. 

Thursday: 1. Irish stew and carrots. 2. Suet dumplings. 

Friday : 1. Boiled fish, parsley sauce, potatoes. 2. Boiled jam 
puddings. 

Tea consists of milk, bread and jam or margar- 
ine, with scones, parkin, or plain cake once a week. 

UNITED STATES 

In the American schools the meals have less of 
the character of forced feeding than that in vogue 
in Germany and England. The following are the 
menus for two days in the first Boston school and 



MEALS IN OPEN AIR SCHOOLS 189 

may be regarded as typical of American practice 
with children who are distinctly tuberculous. 

Breakfast : 

Cocoa, Graham gems, butter, stewed prunes. 
Cocoa, bread and butter, sliced bananas. 

Luncheon : 

Creamed codfish, mashed potato, bread, milk, dates and 

nuts. 
Stew of rice and mutton, bread and butter, milk, dessert 
and figs. 
Supper : 

Milk, crackers, and cream cheese. 

In addition to the meals supplied by the school 
the children had breakfast before leaving home in 
the morning consisting of bread and milk or cereal 
and milk, with sometimes an egg. Moreover they 
received a light meal on their return home at night. 
The children were allowed full helpings, especially 
of milk and cocoa, so that the fuel value of the meals 
actually consumed frequently amounted to over 
2,500 Calories, with ample tissue-building stuff. It 
must be remembered that these children were tuber- 
culous, which means that their bodies required an 
amount of energy and cell stuff to replace the waste 
of disease quite out of proportion to the usual de- 
mands of normal growth and activity. 



190 SCHOOL FEEDING 

In the pioneer American school at Providence, 
Rhode Island, no attempt at full feeding is made. 
The children arrive at 9 in the morning and the 
session closes at 2.30 in the afternoon. At about 
10.30 in the forenoon they have a recess during 
which they are given hot soup. At noon they take 
seats about tables in the schoolroom and eat the 
lunch that they have brought with them from home, 
which is supplemented by hot food prepared at the 
school. This hot dish generally consists of a pud- 
ding such as tapioca or rice served with cream, or 
hot chocolate or cocoa made with milk. A sample 
menu for one week is as follows : 

Monday. — 10.30: beef soup with rice. 12.00: pudding 
made of cream of wheat with 3 quarts of milk and 6 eggs, 
served with cream; chocolate, all milk. 

Tuesday. — 10.30: beef soup with macaroni. 12.00: pud- 
ding, made of tapioca, 2 quarts of milk, 6 eggs, whipped 
cream; chocolate, all milk. 

Wednesday. — 10.30: tomato bisque soup. 12.00: rice 
pudding made with 3 quarts of milk, 6 eggs, served with 
cream; chocolate, all milk. 

Thursday. — 10.30: beef soup with vegetables. 12.00: 
baked farina pudding made with 3 quarts of milk, 6 eggs, 
and cream; chocolate, all milk. 

Friday. — 10.30: pea soup. 12.00: prune pudding made of 
3 quarts of milk, 6 eggs and served with cream; cocoa, all 
milk. 




CHILDREN AT LUNCH. OPEN-AIR SCHOOL, ORANGE, N. J. 




OPEN-AIR SCHOOL, SYRACUSE, N. Y. DAINTY TABLEWARE IS POSSIBLE 
WITH SMALL NUMBERS 



MEALS IN OPEN AIR SCHOOLS 191 

In Syracuse, New York, a class was opened in 
September, 191 1, for nervous, run-down and 
anaemic children. The teacher, acting with the co- 
operation and advice of the medical inspector, plans 
the one substantial meal that is served daily and 
keeps accurate records of the exact quantities used 
and of their food value. A cook, employed two 
hours a day, cooks the meal, and the children them- 
selves do the serving, setting the table and clearing 
up afterward. A group of children for this work 
is chosen weekly, and they like to do it so well that 
boys and girls alike bargain ahead for a place on 
the corps. 

Each day one warm dish with bread and butter, 
and cocoa or milk to drink are served, and occa- 
sionally fruit or cookies in addition. The warm 
dish is chosen from among the following, which 
have proved most popular after several months' 
trial : 

Corned beef hash, baked beans, lamb stew made 
with potatoes, carrots and onions, tomato soup 
with vermicelli, hamburger steak with potatoes, 
scrambled eggs, macaroni with tomato sauce, vege- 
table soup, boiled rice, shredded wheat or cream 
of wheat served with milk and sugar. 

The amount of food used during one school month 



192 SCHOOL FEEDING 

of twenty days for an average of twenty-five pupils, 
is shown in the accompanying table. In this are also 
given the cost and the food value of each article. 

Table ii. Food Used in One School Month — Syracuse 
Open Air School — Showing Money-Cost and Food 
Value. Twenty Meals, Twenty-five Children 

Protein 
Articles Amount Cost (lbs.) Calories 

1. Bananas 50 $ .60 6,350 

2. Beans 6 lbs. 48 .40 5,940 

3. Bread and rolls 71 lbs. 7.10 6.50 86,975 

4. Butter 16 lbs. 5.60 .16 57,680 

5. Cocoa 3 lbs. .75 .65 6,960 

6. Crackers 5 lbs. .40 .50 9,625 

7. Cookies (molasses) . 3 lbs. 45 .19 7,530 

8. Cream of wheat 5-5 lbs. .44 .70 9,267 

9- Eggs 64 1.30 .65 3,955 

10. Zweiback 5 lbs. .50 .50 9,850 

11. Macaroni 7.5 lbs. .60 1.00 12,187 

12. Meat and fish 23 lbs. 5.00 346 21,270 

13. Milk 124 qts. 8.88 8.20 80,600 

14. Oranges 6 lbs. .60 1,440 

15. Potatoes 47 lbs. 1.35 .80 23,420 

16. Rice 4-5 lbs. .27 .40 2,295 

17. Shredded wheat 16 lbs. 1.60 1.60 27,200 

18. Spinach 6 lbs. .60 .70 1,560 

19. Sugar 14.5 lbs. 1.16 29,970 

20. Vegetable soup 5 lbs. .25 .04 1,300 

Grand total $37-93 26.26 403.544 

Total average per child. 1.52 1.05 16,142 

Food value and cost of 

average meal per child- .076 24 grams. 807 



MEALS IN OPEN AIR SCHOOLS 193 

COST 

The cost of supplying the school meals varies 
from about 12 cents per capita per day to about 25 
cents. In Germany and England the expense is 
distinctly less than the same meals would cost in 
this country. The five meals per day supplied to 
the children at Charlottenburg cost only 12 cents 
per child per day. At Elberfeld 5 daily meals which 
include one quart of milk per child are supplied 
for 16 cents per day. The same sum supplied 4 
meals per day in the first English school at Bostall 
Wood. 

In New York City, where eight public open air 
food was about 20 cents per child per day and the 
cost of preparing and serving it increased the ex- 
pense to about 25 cents. 

In New York City, where eight public open air 
schools are in operation, the committee in charge 
estimates that where the full lunch including milk 
both morning and afternoon is provided, the cost is 
1 7 cents per child per day. The midday lunch alone 
costs about 10 cents per day per child and milk 
alone twice a day without any midday lunch costs 
about 5 cents per child per day. 

In Syracuse the total cost of food, service and 
13 



194 SCHOOL FEEDING 

gas for one school month, or twenty days, for 
twenty-five pupils was fifty-two dollars and ninety- 
three cents. This amount was distributed as follows : 

Raw food for twenty days $37-93 

Service (two hours daily) ■, 12.00 

Gas 3.00 

Cost per pupil per month 2.12 

Cost per pupil per day 11 

Cost per day per pupil of food alone 076 

ADMINISTRATION 

In nearly all cases American open air schools 
are administered by a partnership of responsibility. 
In a majority of the cities the cost for teachers' 
salaries, equipment and so forth is met by the Board 
of Education, while the expense for food as well 
as for clothing is defrayed by hospitals, charitable 
organizations and systems for the prevention and 
cure of tuberculosis. At the close of the school year 
191 1, data as to the administration of schools in 
47 American cities were as follows : 

Board of Education and tuberculosis association 20 

Board of Education and private association 11 

Board of Education only 7 

Board of Education and other city departments........ 6 

Tuberculosis association only 2 

Board of Education and private fund 1 



MEALS IN OPEN AIR SCHOOLS 195 

As a general summary of feeding in open air 
schools, it may be said that the meals are an essential 
feature of the treatment, that plentiful, wholesome 
food may be provided at relatively light cost and 
that in the majority of American cities the special 
cost of the food is shared by bodies outside the 
school boards. 



IX 

Investigations of Underfeeding Among 
American School Children 



THE NUMBER OF UNDERFED CHILDREN 

General public interest in school feeding began 
with the publication, in 1904, of Robert Hunter's 
book, " Poverty." In trying to give some estimate 
of the amount of suffering that must exist as a 
result of poverty Mr. Hunter made the statement 
that there must be " very likely sixty or seventy 
thousand children in New York City alone who 
often arrive at school hungry and unfitted to do 
well the work assigned to them." 1 This statement 
has received more publicity than any other one 
sentence in the whole book and it was all too often 
translated by the newspapers into " 70,000 starving 
children in New York City come breakfastless to 
school." As a result many so-called investigations 
were made and most conflicting reports published 
which alternately refuted, corroborated and outdid 
Hunters original statement. 

hunter, Robert, Poverty, The Macmillan Co., p. 216. 
196 



UNDERFEEDING 197 

Shortly after the publication of this book, John 
Spargo undertook to find out by personal investiga- 
tion the real facts about underfed children in New 
York City. 2 He first confined his attention to the 
subject of the usual breakfasts eaten by school chil- 
dren. He was able with the cordial co-operation of 
principals and teachers to gather fairly reliable in- 
formation in regard to the breakfasts of 12,800 
children, in sixteen different schools. 

The method used was as follows: Each child 
was questioned privately by the class teacher as to 
what he had for breakfast that day. If he reported 
no breakfast, the fact was noted, and also* if he 
reported an inadequate breakfast. For this inves- 
tigation, an inadequate breakfast was defined as 
one not containing any of the following articles: 
Milk, eggs, meat, fish, cereal, butter, jam or fruit; 
it further meant one consisting of coffee or tea, 
either alone or with bread or cake or crackers. 
Each teacher reported to the principal the number 
of children with no breakfast, and those with in- 
adequate breakfasts, omitting so far as possible chil- 
dren of fairly good circumstances whose lack of 
breakfast was accidental or unusual. 

'Spargo, John: The Bitter Cry of the Children, New 
York, 1906, Macmillan Company, pp. 61-124. 



198 SCHOOL FEEDING 

The inquiry revealed the following facts: Of 
12,800 children, 987 or nearly 8 per cent, had no 
breakfast; 1,963 others, or over 15 per cent, had 
inadequate breakfasts. This made a total of 23 per 
cent, of all the children in those schools who were 
badly fed, so far as this might be indicated by break- 
fasts alone. 

Mr. Spargo then tried to find out what sort of 
lunches the children had. He was assured by 
teachers and principals and by his own observation 
that many children did not go home at noon, but 
remained playing about the school yard, with no 
lunch at all. No exact figures were gathered on 
this point. From questioning, by the teachers, it 
was found that anywhere from 10 to 20 per cent, 
of the children were given pennies to buy their own 
lunches. He watched what they bought and re- 
ports this special illustration as a fair example of 
their choice in winter. Fourteen children, eight 
boys and six girls, in one delicatessen store, bought, 
seven of them pickles and bread, four of them 
pickles alone, two of them bologna and rye bread, 
and one pickled fish and bread. On a summer day 
he saw a group of nineteen buy, six of them pickles, 
two of them pickles and bread, six ice cream, two 



UNDERFEEDING 199 

bananas, and three candy. Mr. Spargo found that 
another way the lunch pennies go is in gambling, 
especially among boys. 

This investigation was followed by many others, 
both in New York, and in other cities, which may 
be grouped in two classes; the first being confined, 
as was Mr. Spargo's, to a study of the kind of 
breakfasts and lunches eaten by the children; and 
the second a survey of the children's nutrition, made 
by physicians. 

I. Following is an account of various inquiries 
into the subject of the breakfast of school children : 

In 1906 Dr. Lechstecker, acting for the New 
York State Board of Charities, examined 10,707 
children in the 12 Industrial Schools of the Chil- 
dren's Aid Society. He found that of these, 439 
had had no breakfast on the day of inquiry and 998 
others had had breakfasts of coffee alone or with 
bread. These children, who formed 13 per cent, of 
all examined, showed marked anaemia. Dr. Lech- 
stecker declared that he found that only 18 per cent, 
of all children had started the day with what he 
considered suitable and adequate meals. 

In a similar examination made in 1905 in Chicago 
of 5,150 children in 5 schools, 1,586, or 31 per cent, 



200 SCHOOL FEEDING 

reported an entirely inadequate breakfast or none at 
all. In Buffalo, of 7,500 children in 8 schools, 
5,105 reported a breakfast of tea or coffee and 
bread. The principals in these schools asserted that 
there were 1,150, or 15 per cent, of all examined, 
who were obviously handicapped by poor nutrition. 
In Philadelphia 4,589 children were examined and 
189 reported no breakfast, and 2,504, tea or coffee 
and bread, making a total of 59 per cent, coming 
to school inadequately fed. 3 

2. Beginning with the year 1906, Medical In- 
spectors in New York Public Elementary Schools 
have recorded cases of malnutrition. During these 
five years from 1906-19 10 inclusive, in a total 
number of 860,728 examinations the average per- 
centage of cases found was five. This means that 
in the proportion of one in twenty cases examined 
the condition of malnutrition was so marked that 
it was entered on the official records as one of the 
physical defects of the child. 4 

The condition revealed by these investigations 

"The Hunger Problem in the Public Schools — What the 
Canvass of Six Big Cities Reveals, Special Correspondence 
in the Philadelphia North American, May 31, 1905. 

4 Reports of the New York Superintendent of Schools, 
years 1906 through 1910. 




THE WAITING LINE, BUFFALO, N. Y. 




UNDERFEEDING 201 

have been repeatedly mentioned by Dr. Maxwell, 
who has year by year recommended earnestly the 
establishment of school lunches. His latest recom- 
mendation reads: 

Provision should be made in all schools for supplying 
food at cost prices for the pupils in the middle of the day. 

In 1907 the New York Committee on the 
Physical Welfare of School Children found on ex- 
amination of 1400 typical New York school chil- 
dren that 145 or 10 per cent, showed marked symp- 
toms of malnutrition, and visits to the homes showed 
that the daily food of many others was unsatis- 
factory. A few months after the first examination 
990 of these children were re-examined more care- 
fully and of these 128 or 13 per cent, were declared 
to be suffering from malnutrition. 5 

In 1909 Dr. E. Mather Sill, at his clinic on the 
lower east side of the city, made a very careful 
medical examination of 1000 children whose ages 
ranged from six to twelve years and found 400 
children who were badly undernourished. 6 

'The Physical Welfare of School Children, Quarterly 
Publication of American Statistical Association, Boston, 1907. 

Sill, E. Mather, M.D. : A Study of Malnutrition in the 
School Child, Journal of the American Medical Association, 
vol. lii, No. 25, p. 1981. 



202 SCHOOL FEEDING 

Finally in the early part of 1910, the School 
Lunch Committee made a special examination of 
2,150 children in the lower grades of two New York 
schools, and found 283 of these or 13 per cent, 
were marked cases of malnutrition. These children 
weighed on the average nine pounds less than the 
normal for their ages. 

In Chicago, in 1908, of 10,090 children in 12 
schools, 825 children were found by medical in- 
spectors to be suffering seriously from malnutrition, 
due to deficient food. In addition, 353 others were 
found who were undernourished, but for whose 
conditions other causes than inadequate food 
might be responsible. This means that a total of 
1,178 or 12 per cent, of those examined were badly 
nourished. 

One striking fact shown by the Chicago investiga- 
tion was that the number of acutely undernourished 
children decreased in the higher grades. An 
analysis of the distribution of the 1,178 children 
in the different grades follows : 7 

'Reports on Underfed Children, Reprinted from Minutes 
of the Board of Education of the City of Chicago, Oct. 21, 
1908. 



UNDERFEEDING 203 

Table 12. Investigation of Underfeeding in Chicago. 

Number 
Grade underfed Per cent. 

Kindergarten 70 15.5 

First grade 502 14 

Second grade 235 1 1 

Third grade 195 10 

Fourth grade 91 9 

Fifth and above 85 6 

Total 1,178 12 

In Philadelphia, a special investigation of 500 
children in one school, in a poor district, including 
a medical examination and a visit to the home of 
each child, revealed serious underfeeding in 119 
cases, forming 24 per cent, of the whole. 

In Boston, the routine medical inspection of all 
children in 1909 revealed between 5,000 and 6,000 
cases of underfeeding and anaemia among a total 
of 80,000 children. 

In St. Paul, in 19 10, Dr. Meyerding, the head 
of the Medical Inspection, made a special examina- 
tion of 3,200 children in schools frankly chosen 
from the poorer district. He found that 644 or 
20 per cent, of the whole showed marked under- 
feeding. 



204 SCHOOL FEEDING 

As a general conclusion from these investigations 
it seems fair to place the probable number of 
seriously underfed school children in New York and 
other American cities at 10 per cent, of the school 
population. This number doubtless includes many 
who might be able to pay for an adequate lunch at 
noon, if the opportunity were provided. 

POVERTY, IGNORANCE AND MALNUTRITION 

No one doubts that there is a close relation be- 
tween poverty and underfeeding — the terms are 
practically synonymous. Many persons, however, 
insist that the immediate cause of most of the under- 
feeding among the school children in American 
cities is not poverty but ignorance — that if the 
majority of incomes, slender as these are, were ex- 
pended wisely, the children might be properly fed. 

Light on the general problem of the relation of 
income to nutrition was thrown by Dr. Chapin's 
study of the Standard of Living Among Working- 
men's Families in New York City. 8 His investiga- 
tion involved keeping a detailed account during one 
week of the actual expenditures for and consump- 

• Chapin, Robert Coit : The Standard of Living Among 
Workingmen'.s Families in New York City, New York, 1907, 
pp. 123-161. 



UNDERFEEDING 205 

tion of food in ioo typical families of a dozen 
nationalities. So far as possible " normal " families 
consisting of a father, mother and three children 
were chosen. The material gathered in this in- 
vestigation was submitted to dietetic experts, who 
estimated the actual food value consumed each day 
per family, and by each member of the family. 
These results were compared with the American 
standard ration of persons of different ages as com- 
puted by Atwater. In this computation the unit 
taken is the daily food need of the father of the 
family, a man at moderately active muscular work. 
The needs of the women and children are then cal- 
culated in progressive fractions of this unit, varying 
from three-tenths for the child under two to eight 
and nine-tenths for the women and adolescents in 
the family. 9 

When the expenditure for food was compared 
with the actual amount of food purchased, it was 
discovered that, in general, the families that spent 
on food less than 22 cents per man per day were 
underfed, that is were unable to buy enough to 
support life on a plane of physical efficiency. 

'United States Department S. Agricultural Farmers' Bul- 
letin No. 142, p. 33. See also p. 240, this text. 



206 SCHOOL FEEDING 

The yearly expenditure for food in each of the 
391 families was then determined, and it was found 
that applying the minimum standard of 22 cents 
per man per day, the families might be grouped as 
follows, according to the income and the percentage 
of necessary underfeeding, as estimated by the 
amount spent on food: 

Table 13. Relation Between Income and Underfeeding in 
American Workingmen's Families. 

Total No. 

of Underfed families 

Annual income families Number Per cent. 

$400-$599 25 19 76 

600- 799 151 48 32 

800- 899 73 l6 22 

900-1099 94 8 9 

1 100 and over 48 o o 

Totals 391 91 23.2 

The figures in this table indicate that with less 
than $600 a year to spend, an adequate food supply 
is not provided in three families out of four. On 
incomes from $600 to $800, one family in three is 
underfed, while less than one-tenth of the families 
having $900 to $1000 to spend fall short of the 
minimum allowance for food. The income of $1100 
for a family of five is apparently a safeguard against 
underfeeding. 





NOON LUNCH IN TWO BUFFALO SCHOOLS. TABLECLOTHS AND WHITE WARE 
TEACH CLEANLINESS AND BEAUTY 



UNDERFEEDING 207 

INCOMES OF FAMILIES OF UNDERFED SCHOOL 
CHILDREN 

The study made by Dr. Chapin was not directly 
concerned with the problem of underfed school 
children. So far as specific investigations have been 
made of the family incomes of underfed school 
children Chapin's findings have been corroborated. 
The most careful study of the kind yet made was 
that conducted by the New York School Lunch 
Committee in 1909. This study covered 262 cases 
of undernourished children. Records were made 
of all the details in their home life which might 
bear on their condition. Some of the results were 
as follows : 

Of the families of 106 children, it was found that 
in 69 per cent, of the cases the yearly income fell 
below $825. The families were grouped accord- 
ing to incomes as shown in the accompanying table : 

Table 14. Incomes of Families of Underfed Children 

Annual income Number Per cent. 

$825 and over 33 3* 

5oo-$8oo 38 36 

400-500 11 10 

Less than $400 24 23 

Totals 106 100 



208 SCHOOL FEEDING 

HOME FEEDING 

A study of the food given to 262 undernourished 
children at home showed that 93 per cent, had tea 
or coffee every day and of these nearly 40 per cent, 
had it twice a day. 

Given a breakfast of tea or coffee and bread, a 
great many of these children had to wait till night 
time for a real meal. In nearly ten per cent, of the 
cases the mother worked away from home all day 
and could not prepare any lunch at noon. In 23 
per cent, there was no prepared lunch at home and 
the children had to get it for themselves. In a still 
larger number of cases forming 38 per cent, of the 
whole there was no available lunch at home of any 
kind and if the children did not have pennies they 
had nothing at noon. This makes a total of 68 per 
cent, for whom there was no regular provision for 
a noon-day meal at home. From accounts given 
by the mothers, the evening meal was not of such 
character as to make up for the other poor and 
irregular meals. Detailed accounts of the actual 
food eaten at home by 141 children showed that 77 
per cent, were receiving too little food of any kind, 
leaving suitability out of the question. 



UNDERFEEDING 209 

HOUSING 

But poverty may affect nutrition in other ways 
besides mechanically limiting the food supply. Pov- 
erty means narrow living quarters and even a limit 
to the supply of air. This was well illustrated dur- 
ing the same investigation, when details were gath- 
ered of the housing of 217 families with under- 
nourished children. 

The following table shows the number of persons 
to a room: 

Table 15. Housing of Underfed School Children 

No. Per cent. 

I person or less per room 17 8 

1-1.5 person per room 47 22 

1.5-2 persons per room 63 28 

2-2.5 persons per room 39 18 

2.5-3 persons per room 38 18 

Over 3 persons per room 13 6 

Total 217 100 

In 42 per cent, of the families there were more 
than two persons to every room in the house. This 
means that the sleeping rooms were even more 
crowded because the kitchen is included in the 
number of rooms. In 17 families there was a 
14 



210 SCHOOL FEEDING 

room for each member of the family. The number 
of rooms taken by itself is only a rough indication 
of the actual condition of crowding and bad air, 
because of the fact that many rooms are window- 
less. Further, in the old style " railroad " flat, 
which still outnumbers any other style in New 
York, the " rooms " are simply vaguely defined sec- 
tions in a long corridor. 

Similar investigations into the social and 
economic factors making for underfeeding in New 
York and other cities have given results like those 
just outlined. Among the conditions making for 
underfeeding in school children, especially in large 
cities, are overcrowding, irregular and bad food 
habits and actual lack of enough to eat. These are 
not the only ones, but they are the important ones, 
and in a majority of cases are directly traceable to 
poverty. 



X 

Malnutrition in Childhood 



ITS SYMPTOMS, CAUSES, RESULTS AND 
CLASSIFICATION 

Malnutrition is the name given to the bodily 
condition arising when, for any reason, the tissues 
of the body do not receive enough of the food neces- 
sary to build them up and to furnish energy and 
vitality for functioning. 

In England and Germany, where the classification 
of school children according to their nutritive con- 
dition has been a matter of discussion for more than 
ten years past, it has been found that five grades of 
nutrition may be distinguished, varying through ex- 
cellent, good, fair, poor and bad. 

Some idea of what these various grades mean 
may be had from the following plan which has been 
elaborated by Dr. Hogarth 1 for the use of medical 
inspectors in English schools. 

This indicates what are the main points by which 
nutrition is judged; growth as shown by height 

1 Hogarth: Medical Inspection of Schools, p. 158. 

211 



212 



SCHOOL FEEDING 



and weight; bulk as shown by musculature and 
the character of the external tissues ; and circulation 
as shown by complexion. 



Grade 


Stature and 
growth 


Nutrition 


Circulation and 
complexion 


I. Excellent 
3. Good 

3. Fair or av- 

erage 

4. Poor 

5. Bad 


A healthy giant 

Well-grown 

Average 

Stunted 

Miserable, de- 
formed 


Excellent muscular 

development 
Well-n u r i s h e d , 

healthy 
Medium 

Thin, or fat and 

flabby tissue 
Very thin 


Ruddy and bronzed 
Healthy pink 
Average 
Anaemic, sallow 
Pallid 



If a child fails consistently to measure up to his 
racial standard of height and weight for his age, 
the chances are that the cause is chronic malnu- 
trition. 

If a child's superficial circulation is bad, as shown 
by his general lack of color, by the loose feeling and 
flabby look of his skin, and especially by the pale 
color of the mucous membranes about and in the 
mouth and about the eyes — the cause is probably 
malnutrition. Rough hair, not necessarily untidy, 
a furred tongue and a bad breath are other signs. 

Right here may be mentioned a symptom which, 
while as yet little known, is coming to be accepted 
as a most certain indication of acute malnutrition. 



MALNUTRITION IN CHILDREN 213 

This is the appearance of small reddish spots under 
the skin, known as purpuric petechiae. They are 
really capillary hemorrhages and though sometimes 
confused with flea bites are the result of insufficient 
or unsuitable feeding and disappear in a short time 
with proper feeding. 

Even more prominent are the mental symptoms 
of malnutrition. The animal spirits and vitality 
of normal children are lacking in those who are 
underfed, who are easily fatigued and listless in 
play and work and show this even to a casual ob- 
server by the expression of their eyes and entire 
face. 

This characteristic lack of vitality means, too, 
that the children succumb easily to infectious dis- 
eases of all sorts. Similarly, the undernourished 
body cannot repair quickly the minor injuries, cuts 
and bruises of childhood. 

CAUSES 

In general, the body fails to grow properly or 
to function harmoniously — that is it is malnourished 
— if as a whole it is not supplied with enough of 
the right kind of food. 

The food provided may be lacking in quantity or 



214 SCHOOL FEEDING 

it may be of bad quality, adulterated, badly pre- 
pared, etc. In any case the body is not getting what 
it needs. 

Because of the conversion of food into tissues 
and life energy requires the co-operation of many 
different organs involving many chemical and physi- 
cal forces, there may be a truly formidable number 
of hindrances and perversions in the process. 

The causes of malnutrition may in general be 
grouped according as it results in one of two ways : 
one, the insufficient building up of tissue; two, the 
excessive breaking down of tissue. A more obscure 
problem of malnutrition lies in hereditary and con- 
genital conditions which may cause arrested or de- 
layed development. 

I. i. The main cause of an insufficient building up 
of tissues is deficiency of food in quantity or quality. 

2. The second cause is faulty assimilation, that 
is digestion and absorption. This may result 
mechanically from insufficient mastication because of 
hurried meals, or bad teeth, or because of an excess 
of liquids. Bad teeth is the most frequent of these. 

Strong tea and coffee, alcoholic drinks and smok- 
ing may interfere chemically with assimilation. 

3. After the food leaves the alimentary canal, 



MALNUTRITION IN CHILDREN 215 

ready for carriage to the other parts of the body, 
defects in the lymphatic system, particularly those 
caused by subacute or chronic tubercular conditions, 
may hinder it from arriving at its destination. This 
constitutes a third possible cause. 

4. The fourth cause of an insufficient building up 
of tissues is a deficiency of oxidization resulting 
from (a) the quality of air breathed; (b) a defi- 
ciency of air entering the lungs because of nasal 
obstructions such as catarrh, adenoids, etc., or de- 
fects of the chest from rickets, bad posture, tight 
clothing; (c) circulatory defects in tubes or capil- 
laries, mechanical defects of the heart, anaemia, 
lymph stagnation from want of exercise. 
II. Excessive breaking down of tissues may 
accompany : 

1. A nervous condition arising from insufficient 
sleep, late hours, irritation from vermin. 

2. Overwork and chronic fatigue. 

3. Recovery from fevers. 

These causes are not of equal value, many may 
exist at once and all are interrelated. Bad and 
insufficient food results in badly formed and weak- 
ened teeth and other defective structures, whose 
impaired powers of functioning make it difficult for 



216 SCHOOL FEEDING 

them to receive the full benefit of good food. It is 
a vicious circle. However, it is an important fact to 
remember that malnutrition, whatever the cause, 
cannot be cured without good food and enough of it. 
The most frequent results and accompaniments 
of malnutrition are ansemia, stunted growth, 
diminished energy and lowered vitality as shown 
by weakened resistance to diseases. All these things 
have been studied with considerable care in differ- 
ent countries by experts interested in the develop- 
ment of children. The following are the results of 
some of this study. 

ANEMIA 

Anaemia, which is the term used for deficiency 
of blood, particularly of the red corpuscles in the 
blood, is the frequent accompaniment of malnu- 
trition. It is seldom or never found in the well- 
nourished body, but it may occur in a body that is 
fairly nourished. Its most common indication is 
pallor, which may be general or, in the case of dark 
complexioned children, it may be seen only in the 
mucous membranes about the eyes, the gums, the 
inside of the cheeks, etc. Frequently a blood test 
is necessary to detect its presence. 



MALNUTRITION IN CHILDREN 217 

Anaemia is extremely common among school chil- 
dren, especially in towns. How it varies with the 
state of nutrition of the children is illustrated by 
the results of the investigation of 716 cases among 
school children in the poorer districts of London. 2 
These children were classified in five groups on the 
basis of nutrition. Those rated as " excellent " and 
" very good " were found to include practically no 
cases of anaemia. Among those rated " good " the 
percentage suffering from anaemia was 59; among 
the "fair," 89; and among the "bad," 93. 

Dr. Gastpar 3 of Stuttgart reports a more exten- 
sive investigation of anaemia covering over 8000 
cases. These children were classified as to nutrition 
into " good," " fair " and " bad " groups. In round 
numbers there were 2000 in the first group; 4000 
in the second; and 2000 in the third. Among the 
children classified as " good " there were no cases 
of anaemia; among those classified as "fair" the 
percentage was 34; among the " bad " it was 49. 

To summarize, anaemia, as the word is commonly 
understood, means an impoverished blood supply. 

2 Report Educational Commission, London County Council, 
1909, p. 19. 

3 Gastpar, Dr. : Die Beurteilung des Eruahrungszustandes 
der Schulkinder. 



218 SCHOOL FEEDING 

It is a symptom, but not an invariable one, of chronic 
under-nourishment. Among its causes which are 
like those of malnutrition are insufficient or im- 
proper feeding, hereditary disease, frequent hemor- 
rhages, general debility following acute diseases, 
rickets, insufficient sleep, and want of fresh air. 

When found among the children of the well-to-do 
it simply gives the effect of pallor and the skin is 
often of fine texture. When it is found among 
children who are underfed and come from crowded 
homes, the prominent symptom is the earthy tinge 
of the skin together with other characteristic signs 
mentioned as " symptoms of malnutrition." 

HEIGHT AND WEIGHT MEASUREMENTS 

In general cases of malnutrition may be divided 
into two types. The first is the result of chronic 
underfeeding or incorrect feeding, and its results 
are shown in the child by constant failure to come 
up to the average of weight and height, lung ca- 
pacity, grip, etc. The second type of malnutrition 
is temporary in character and its results are shown, 
not by a deficit in both weight and height, but by a 
deficit in weight alone as compared with height. 
In the first place the child will be diminutive, in the 
second, starved — both problems of nutrition. 



MALNUTRITION IN CHILDREN 219 

The standard of absolute height and weight at 
different ages differs according to race and climate 
in countries. In spite of these differences, height 
and weight still remain the surest single indication 
of nutrition. They may also be recorded more 
easily than any other. The direct and definite way 
with which they do vary with nutrition is shown 
in the investigation into the physical condition of 
school children conducted in 1907 by Dr. Leslie 
Mackenzie and Captain Foster of Glasgow. This 
is the biggest, most extensive and careful investiga- 
tion of the kind ever conducted. It includes 72,800 
cases varying from five to fifteen years, and cover- 
ing all of the children in the public schools of the 
city. The fact which is significant in this connection 
is that the children are divided into four groups, 
in accordance with the number of rooms in their 
houses — whether one room, two rooms, three or 
four rooms and more. 

In a crowded city like Glasgow, the size of the 
house is a fair index of the degree of comfort or 
poverty of the family. There are exceptions, in 
cases of especially small families, but when tens 
of thousands of cases figure in the data, the number 
of rooms is a trustworthy index of the economic 
status. The one-room child is the poverty stricken 



220 SCHOOL FEEDING 

child, and hence the underfed child. The four- 
room child on the other hand belongs to a family 
much better situated economically. The truth of 
these principles is forcibly illustrated by the results 
obtained in the investigation under consideration. 
When the average height and weight of the chil- 
dren of the different groups are taken, it appears 
that the child from the one-room house is always 
lighter and shorter than the child from the two- 
room. He in turn is shorter and does not weigh 
so much as the child in the three-room house — who 
in turn is the physical inferior of the child living 
in a house of four rooms or more. These results 
are shown in the following table: 

Table 16. Average Height and Weight of all Children 
from 5-18 Years, According to Housing 

Average weight Average height 
Housing in pounds in inches 

1 room 52.0 46.5 

2 rooms 55-5 4&9 

3 rooms 60.0 50.4 

4 rooms 64.9 51.5 

In the following chart the average weights for 
the one-, two-, three- and four-room children, from 
5 to 14 years old, are represented by the upright 
columns in black. It will be seen that for each age 
the first column represents the average weight of 



MALNUTRITION IN CHILDREN 221 



the one-room child and that these are consistently 
less than the weight of the two-room child in the 
next column. This is true of every age — up to 18, 



90 



1H 





■ 


eo 


13 r 

12 r r 


70 ■ 


11 rf] f 

10 n r[ 


60 ■ 
50 ■ 
to • 


r 

8 JiJ 

1 f 




-r 


30 • 




20 • 




10 




. 






II. Average weights of one-room, two-room, three-room and four-room 
children at each age from five to fourteen. 

but the number examined of children older than 
15 was too small to be of statistical value. A 
similar diagram constructed to show the heights at 



222 SCHOOL FEEDING 

each age would be almost identical and show with 
equal clearness the relation of housing to nutrition 
and nutrition to development. 

It would be difficult to get more striking proof 
than these figures show of the immediate and in- 
timate relation between the state of nutrition and 
the amount of development that is accordingly- 
possible. 

STANDARD AMERICAN MEASUREMENTS 

As the problems of development and nutrition 
receive increasing attention in this country it is 
necessary to have available for reference some 
standard measurements. The British Anthropomet- 
ric Association has been at work compiling figures 
for the use of British investigators and scientists, 
but their figures, though probably not seriously un- 
suited for use in this country, cannot be used for 
exact work. The accompanying tables (Nos. Ill 
and IV) compiled by Dr. Wood, of Columbia Uni- 
versity, are in part the result of measurements made 
periodically during ten years on thousands of boys 
and girls attending the Horace Mann School. The 
figures gotten in this way were compared and 
checked up with those of Drs. Bowditch and Hast- 
ings, and with the standard adopted by the British 



MALNUTRITION IN CHILDREN 223 

Anthropometric Association. The tables show the 
standard mean variations in weight as related to 

III. Relative Weight and Height Table — Boys. 
The figures under the age column represent weight in pounds. 



a 










Years. 


ttf)« 












































•8.5 

a 


5 


6 


7 


8 


9 


10 


11 


12 


13 


14 


15 


16 


17 


18 


19 


20 


39 


35 
























. 




40 


38 


36 






























41 


39 


39 






























42 


41 


41 






























43 


42 


42 


42 




























44 


46 


44 


43 




























45 




46 


46 


45 


























46 




48 


48 


48 


























47 






49 


50 


50 
























48 






54 


53 


53 


53 






















49 








54 


55 


55 






















50 








57 


58 


58 






















SI 








59 


60 


60 


61 




















52 










62 


62 


61 


63 


















53 










62 


65 


65 


67 


67 


67 














54 










65 


68 


68 


70 


71 


71 














55 












69 


7i 


75 


75 


76 














56 












71 


77 


76 


78 


79 


79 












57 














77 


79 


80 


82 


82 












58 














78 


84 


85 


86 


87 












59 
















84 


86 


90 


91 












60 
















85 


91 


94 


95 


90 










61 


















98 


97 


99 


96 










62 


















99 


103 


106 


104 


104 








63 


















100 


107 


112 


112 


110 


Il8 






64 




















114 


118 


120 


H7 


120 


120 




65 




















122 


119 


122 


122 


120 


126 


125 


66 






















121 


125 


125 


126 


129 


130 


67 






















128 


129 


128 


131 


134 


132 


68 






















133 


133 


130 


136 


136 


136 


69 
























134 


136 


139 


139 


139 


70 
























136 


140 


143 


144 


145 


71 


























140 


I46 


146 


I46 


72 






























149 


154 


73 
































165 



height, at different ages, from five to twenty years. 
A perfectly well child of ten years may be anywhere 
from 48 to 56 inches in height and weigh anywhere 



224 



SCHOOL FEEDING 



from 53 to 71 pounds, but if his weight does not 
correspond with his height, or if he is less than 48 
inches tall, there is something wrong with his de- 
velopment and probably with his nutrition. 

IV. Relative Weight and Height Table — Girls. 
The figures under the age column represent weight in pounds. 















Years. 




















































•rt G 


































X" 


5 


6 


7 


8 


9 


10 


II 


12 


13 


14 


15 


16 


17 


18 


19 


20 


39 


34 
































40 


37 


35 






























41 


38 


37 






























42 


41 


39 


39 




























43 


41 


41 


42 




























44 


45 


43 


44 


42 


























45 




45 


45 


45 


























46 




48 


47 


47 


























47 






50 


49 


49 
























48 








51 


51 
























49 








53 


53 


54 






















SO 








56 


56 


57 






















SI 










59 


58 


60 




















52 










63 


62 


62 


63 


















S3 












64 


63 


66 


65 
















54 












69 


68 


69 


68 
















55 














70 


71 


73 
















56 














75 


75 


76 


78 














57 
















78 


80 


83 














58 
















83 


86 


88 


89 












59 
















88 


89 


93 


97 


100 










60 
















94 


94 


96 


100 


104 


109 


103 


99 


99 


61 


















99 


100 


102 


109 


109 


106 


IOS 


in 


62 


















104 


104 


106 


in 


no 


107 


in 


114 


63 




















107 


109 


116 


no 


112 


113 


114 


64 




















112 


118 


116 


117 


114 


119 


115 


65 




















114 


118 


121 


125 


120 


123 


125 



This method of calculation is much more exact, 
especially in a heterogeneous group, such as may 
be found in any American city, than the easy and 
crude method of measuring development at each age 
by a single figure for weight or height. 



MALNUTRITION IN CHILDREN 225 

RESULTS 
MALNUTRITION AND MENTAL DEFECTS 

The relation of malnutrition to* mental defective- 
ness has long been given substantial recognition 
both here and abroad in the provision of lunches 
in special schools for subnormal children. Dr. 
Collie, Medical Inspector of the London School 
Committee, declared in this connection before the 
Committee on Physical Deterioration, that " mental 
disability is not only preventable but, in many cases, 
curable. In a large number of instances, after the 
careful individual attention and midday dinner of 
the special schools, children are returned to the 
regular elementary schools after from sixteen to 
eighteen months with a new lease of mental vigour." 

Dr. Brown Ritchie, reporting for Manchester, 
stated that of the 641 mentally defective children in 
that city, 325 could be classed as having poor nu- 
trition, while in were marked cases, making a 
total of 68 per cent, showing malnutrition. 

Similarly, of 10 12 children in classes for mental 

defectives in New York in 1908, 60 per cent, were 

found to be suffering from malnutrition. Similar 

data come from Plauen in Germany, where it is 

15 



226 SCHOOL FEEDING 

stated that underfeeding is the main cause for chil- 
dren being in the special schools for mental 
defectives. 

The only case on record where the relation be- 
tween malnutrition and simple retardation has been 
quantitatively estimated, occurs in one district of 
Manchester, Conn. All the children in eight grades 
were specially examined, in order to determine what 
features of their physical condition or of their home 
environment might be responsible for non-promo- 
tion. Of 1396 children examined, 174, or 12 per 
cent., were malnutrition cases. But the percentage 
of malnutrition in the promoted group was 9, as 
opposed to 25 in the left back group. Malnutrition 
was found to be second only to poor mentality in its 
retarding influence. 4 

In many of these cases the explanation seems to 
be that these children are functionally mentally de- 
fective; in other words, their brains are starved 
and naturally fail to react to the ordinary methods 
of elementary teaching. 

*Ayres, Leonard P.: A Simple System of Discovering 
Some Factors Influencing Non-promotion, Psychological 
Clinic, vol. iv, No. 7, Dec. 15, 1910. 



MALNUTRITION IN CHILDREN 227 

MALNUTRITION AND PHYSICAL DEFECTS 

Emmet Holt, an American authority on chil- 
dren's diseases, says that " one of the most striking 
things about children suffering from malnutrition 
is their vulnerability. They ' take ' everything. 
There is but little resistance to any infectious dis- 
ease which the child may contract." 

A most careful investigation, bearing on the cor- 
relation between malnutrition and physical defects, 
was conducted by Dr. Gastpar, of Stuttgart. 5 He 
examined some 8000 children in all classes of the 
public schools who were suffering from one or 
more of thirteen diseases. These children he divided 
into five classes, according to the state of their nutri- 
tion, by the method already described. He found 
that with one exception the largest percentage of 
disease was present among the badly nourished, 
ansemic children. 

Some of the differences were striking. Diseased 
glands occurred in 12 per cent, of the worst nour- 
ished and in only 5 per cent, of the best nourished. 
Adenoids, perhaps the most familiar disease of the 
school child, occurred in 26 per cent, of the worst 

5 Gastpar : Op. cit. 



228 



SCHOOL FEEDING 



nourished cases, as compared with 17 per cent, of 
the well nourished. Unhealthy heart murmurs 
occurred in 26 per cent, of the badly nourished, and 
only in 3 per cent, of the well nourished. 

There was no tuberculosis in the class marked 
good. Tuberculosis of the lungs varied from .07 
per cent, in the fairly nourished to 3 per cent, in the 
worst nourished. 

Other diseases, such as rickets, vermin and ear 
troubles, showed similar variations in their occur- 
rence. Albuminuria alone of the thirteen diseases 
involved seems to have no special correlation with 
malnutrition, the largest percentage (3) occurring 
in the class marked "fair, with anaemia," while the 
two last groups showed only 2 per cent, apiece of 
this trouble. 



Table 17. Relation of Nutrition and Vulnerability to 

Disease 



Class of Nutrition 


m 

9> 

a 

<D 
w 

s 

a 

CO 


m 
O 

*o 

O 
CO 


3 


u 

H 
a> 
>» 


Non-tubercular 

Respirational 

Diseases 


CO 


<u 

P 

*c3 

H 


u 

« 

+-> CO 

O X 


Defects Among 
Each 100 
Children 




8 

49 
15 
25 
31 


20 
82 
70 
96 
I03 


260 
529 
253 
209 
210 


77 
379 
289 
314 
441 


365 

1039 

627 

644 
785 


1984 
2625 
1385 
1045 
998 


18 


2. Fair 


39 
45 
62 


4. Poor 




79 




128 


371 


146 1 


1500 


3460 


8037 


43 



MALNUTRITION IN CHILDREN 229 

The following table shows the results of the study 
in the cases of the four most important diseases : 

The important feature of the table is the column 
of percentages at the right hand. It will be noted 
from this that of the children classed as " good " 
with respect to their nutrition, only 18 per cent, are 
found to have these physical defects. This percent- 
age steadily and rapidly advances as we pass to the 
" fair " children and those who are " fair with 
anaemia," and so on to the last group classed as 
" poor with anaemia," where the percentage has 
reached 79. In other words, among children classed 
as "good" only one in five was defective; among 
those classed as " poor with anaemia " four out of 
five were defective. 

CLASSIFICATION AND RECORDING OF NUTRITION OF 

SCHOOL CHILDREN: PROFESSIONAL AND 

LAY DIAGNOSIS 

After reading the necessarily vague and general 
instructions for passing judgment on the fact and 
degree of malnutrition, it is not surprising to learn 
that there is great variability in the recorded results 
of such examinations. This is true when the exam- 
ining is being done by medical men, and the differ- 



230 SCHOOL FEEDING 

ences are even greater when children are first ex- 
amined and reported on by their teachers and these 
results are checked up by the school doctors. 

A pertinent example is found in the examinations 
recently conducted in German cities. 6 A large num- 
ber of such examinations, some of them covering 
nearly 170,000 cases in 68 cities, showed that where 
the teachers reported the nutrition of 73 per cent, 
of the children as good; that of 22 per cent, as 
fair; and that of the remaining 5 per cent, as bad; 
the school physicians, examining the same children, 
reported the good cases as being 42 per cent, of 
all ; the fair ones 50 per cent. ; and the bad 8 per 
cent. It will be noted that the doctors found a much 
smaller percentage of children whom they could 
put in the first class, and a larger percentage of those 
fairly and badly nourished. 

Because of results like these and because the sub- 
ject of the nutrition of school children is so im- 
portant, and at the same time so complex, its proper 
classification and recording has recently been studied 
with great care by scientists in Germany and 
England. 

The most practical scheme yet devised for work- 

8 Kaup : Die Ernahr. der Volks., pp. 95-100. 



MALNUTRITION IN CHILDREN 231 

ing with great numbers of children is that of Dr. 
Gastpar, Director of Medical Inspection in Stutt- 
gart. 7 This plan, which represents the accumu- 
lated experience of many years and has been en- 
dorsed by English workers, is as follows : 

i. There is first an individual examination of 
each child, in which measurements of height and 
weight are taken, and the state of nutrition deter- 
mined by these and other factors such as the state 
of the superficial circulation, the musculature, skin 
tonicity, the condition of the mucous membrane, the 
expression of the eyes and the entire face, the rough- 
ness or smoothness of the hair, etc. At the same 
time, other physical defects are noted that may bear 
upon nutrition, as the condition of the teeth, pres- 
ence or absence of adenoids, and particularly the 
presence or absence of anaemia. 

2. After these records have been made for each 
individual child, the children are then divided 
according to their ages. Then the children of each 
group are divided into those having anaemia and 
those without it. These two groups are further 
subdivided until, in order of nutritional excellence, 
children in each age group stand thus: (i) good; 

7 Gastpar, Op. cit. 



232 SCHOOL FEEDING 

(2) fair; (3) fair with anaemia; (4) poor; (5) 
poor with anaemia. 

Experience in the application of this plan of classi- 
fication has developed three general rules that are 
valid for application in any country. Briefly these 
rules are as follows : 

(a) Every child is examined separately in a room 
specially provided, where the light and temperature 
may be regulated. 

(b) One physician should make all the examina- 
tions for any given group of children. 

(c) The examining physician should be familiar 
with the racial peculiarities of growth, complexion, 
and coloring. 

This system involves time and care, but it insures 
a fair degree of accuracy in a subject not easy to 
define rigidly. Some such scheme is absolutely 
necessary if experience is to be shared. This has 
been found specially valuable in record keeping and 
in finding the correlation between the state of nutri- 
tion and other physical conditions. 



XI 

Food Needs of Growing Children. 

Old men bear the want of food best; then those that are 
full-grown ; youths bear it least, most especially children, and 
of them the most lively are the least capable of enduring it. — 

Hippocrates. 

Growth and play are the great needs of the child. 
Growth means the development of new body cells, 
and play requires energy, which is simply another 
name for heat. The only source of material for the 
new body cells and of fuel for the heat and energy 
is food, and the question to decide is how much and 
what kinds of food best meet the two great needs. 

If the child were simply a little man, and like the 
man in everything except size, it would be an easy 
matter to give him a fraction of the man's food in 
proportion to his size. But this is not the case, first, 
because the child is growing and therefore, unlike 
the man whose growth is past, has a constant need 
of new material in large quantities. Then, because 
the child is more active, physically and nervously, he 
needs more heat and energy in proportion to his 
size than the man. 

233 



234 SCHOOL FEEDING 

To plan rightly for the child's particular needs, 
we must first know what foods will best form tissue, 
and which ones will best supply heat and energy. 
As foods perform these two functions they are 
classified in two great groups, corresponding to the 
kind of contribution that they predominantly make. 
These two groups are the Proteins, or structural 
foods, and the fuel or energy suppliers, which in- 
clude Carbohydrates and Fats. 

protein: the tissue builder 

The word " Protein " comes from the Greek 
" protos," meaning " first," and it is used to desig- 
nate the tissue-building elements in food, because 
these are the first and basal elements in all life, 
whether animal or vegetable. The reason they are 
so important is because they contain, among other 
things, the chemical element Nitrogen, which is 
absolutely necessary for cell growth. Though pro- 
teins are found in varying proportions in nearly 
all animal or plant tissues, they are found chiefly in 
the parts which are centres of growth and vital 
activity such as the muscles, milk and eggs of ani- 
mals and the seeds of plants. Thus they are found 
in large quantities in such foods as the lean of meats 



FOOD NEEDS OF CHILDREN £35 

and fish, eggs, milk, peas, beans, lentils, nuts and 
the grains like rice, oats, and wheat. 

When proteins are digested and assimilated, they 
form the vital or living part of the cells, and com- 
pose from one-sixth to one-tenth of the body weight. 

During adult life, the breaking down and building 
up of cells is a slow process, and comparatively little 
new material is needed each day. The daily need of 
the cells for protein has been estimated at anywhere 
from 0.85 gram per kilo of body weight * (the 
lowest possible amount) to 1.6 grams (the highest 
American standard). 2 This means for an average 
man weighing about 70 kilos, or 1 50 pounds, a daily 
ration including enough meats, milk, eggs, cheese, 
bread, peas or beans, etc., to give from 60 to 115 
grams of protein elements. A gram is approxi- 
mately 1/454 of a pound, or 1/30 of an ounce. 

During childhood, the period of greater cell activ- 
ity, the daily standard of protein need has been estab- 
lished by custom 3 and experiment 4 at an amount 
ranging from 2.5 to 1.4 grams per kilo of body 
weight. That is, according to different authorities, 
a child weighing anywhere from 20 to 35 kilos will 

1 Chittenden. * Camerer. 

1 Atwater. 4 Siegert and Lungwitz. 



236 SCHOOL FEEDING 

require an average daily amount of from 39 to 70 
grams of protein. 

To summarize: the amount of tissue-building 
food required by the child during the growing period 
is five-fourths of what is required by a man, com- 
paring weight with weight. 

CARBOHYDRATES AND FATS I THE ENERGY SUPPLIERS 

Carbohydrates is the name given to the two 
foods, sugar and starch, which have about the same 
chemical composition, both containing approxi- 
mately 44 per cent, carbon, 6 per cent, hydrogen, 
and 49 per cent, oxygen. Sugars and starches are 
found in substantial vegetables like potatoes, corn 
and grains, sugar cane, beets and bananas — that is, 
in the parts of plants that are used for storing the 
plant's own food materials. 

The function of carbohydrates is to> supply heat 
and energy which enable the body to do its muscular 
and nervous work. Once digested, they are either 
burned immediately and reduced to gas and water, 
setting free heat and energy in the process, or they 
are stored for future use. Before being stored 
carbohydrates are almost entirely converted into fat, 
and in their original form constitute only about one 
per cent, of the weight of the body. 



FOOD NEEDS OF CHILDREN 237 

Fats, which perform the same function as the 
carbohydrates, are found most abundantly in butter, 
cream, cheese, meat, fish, nuts and vegetable oils. 
Their chief value is that they supply bulk for bulk 
over twice as much fuel as the sugars or starches, 
because they contain a far larger amount of carbon. 
But oxygen is present in far less quantities, and this 
means that the fuel is not so* easily available as in 
the carbohydrates. 

In the human body the fats constitute the great 
storehouse of reserve material from which energy 
and heat may be taken when the supply from food 
temporarily becomes short. Fat occurs in minute 
particles scattered throughout the various tissues 
and in masses under the skin, where it helps to con- 
serve the bodily heat from too rapid irradiation. 
Because the proportion of skin surface to bulk is 
greater in children's bodies than in adults, their 
bodily heat is lost more quickly, and this makes 
the fats of special value in this period. 

Although the special function of protein is to 
build tissue, it does contain elements similar to 
those found in carbohydrates, and these may serve as 
fuel. However, the presence of nitrogen hinders their 
being completely burned, so that protein is not as 
economical a form of fuel as carbohydrates and fats. 



238 SCHOOL FEEDING 

As a summary of experience with children's fuel 
needs it may be said that in proportion to their 
weights they require on an average from one- 
quarter to one-half more foods yielding heat and 
energy than do adults. 

INORGANIC SUBSTANCES IN FOOD 

In addition to the need of material and energy 
that are supplied by the organic food compounds, 
the child must have lime in large quantities for tooth 
and bone building. This is found in its most avail- 
able form in milk, but also occurs in meats and in 
association with protein generally. Other mineral 
needs are common salt, potassium, phosphorus, 
sulphur and iron. These are found mostly in com- 
pound with organic foods, the chief value of watery 
vegetables, like celery, cabbage and spinach, being 
in the salts that they hold in solution. These inor- 
ganic substances, where they do not help to form 
cells, are used as aids in secretion and digestion, 
and their value in the child's bodily economy is 
being more and more recognized. 

The materials so far described, protein, sugars, 
starches, fats and mineral substances, together make 
up about one-third of the weight of the body. The 
rest is water, which, though it furnishes neither liv- 



FOOD NEEDS OF CHILDREN 239 

ing tissue nor fuel, is absolutely necessary for the 
carrying on of vital processes, such as circulation, 
secretion and maintaining a constant body tempera- 
ture. The minimum allowance of water, in addition 
to what is furnished in food, has been placed at 
about a quart a day for all ages beyond infancy. 

MEASUREMENT OF FOOD VALUES BY CALORIES 

The fact that all organic foodstuffs yield heat or 
energy when burnt in the body makes it possible to 
measure and compare them by a single unit of 
measurement. This unit is the Calorie, which is 
the amount of heat necessary to raise one kilogram 
of water one degree Centigrade, or one pint of water 
four degrees Fahrenheit. 

In applying this unit it is assumed that, for ex- 
ample, if a certain quantity of white of egg or cane 
sugar, on being burned outside the body, yields 
enough heat to raise a kilogram of water one degree 
Centigrade, it will produce the same amount of heat 
when burned inside the body. 

As a matter of fact, certain foodstuffs are never 
completely oxidized within the body, and the esti- 
mate of the real fuel value of any food takes account 
only of the material finally available to the body. 
Once the component parts of any food are known, 



240 SCHOOL FEEDING 

its caloric value may be determined by the use of 
the following scheme of fuel values: 

Protein : Fuel value, 4 Calories per gram; 1,816 Calories per lb. 
Carbohydrates: Fuel value, 4 Calories per gram; 1,816 

Calories per lb. 
Fats : Fuel value, 9 Calories per gram ; 4,086 Calories per lb. 

A list of common foods, showing the amount of 
protein, starch, carbohydrates, mineral matter and 
water each contains, is published by the United 
States Department of Agriculture, and forms the 
standard reference list for this country. 5 

DIETARIES FOR DIFFERENT AGES 

In general we have seen that the food needs of 
children are relatively greater than those of adults, 
but this broad statement fails to distinguish between 
the needs of children at different ages. Dr. Lang- 
worthy has indicated these differences by a formula 
like the following: 

Taking the standard requirement to be that of 
a man at moderately active work 

The child under 2 years requires 3/10 of this. 
The child from 2 to 5 years requires 4/10 of this. 
The child from 6 to 9 years requires 5/10 of this. 
The child after 10 years requires from 6/10 to 9/10 of 
this. 

B U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, Washington, Office of Ex- 
periment Stations. Bulletin 28 (Revised Edition). 



FOOD NEEDS OF CHILDREN 



Ml 



This formula has the disadvantage of not indicat- 
ing the relative proportions of the different kinds 
of foodstuffs needed, and it further takes no account 
of weights. The following chart represents the food 



Ik- years 
40 Kilos 



6~g years 
lg-20_KUos 



10 years 
26-2g Kilos 




V. Daily food needs in grams of school children of varying ages and 
weights. Carbohydrates in outline; fats in horizontal lining; protein in 
solid black. 

needs of children at three different school periods, 
at six, at ten and at fourteen. The figures upon 
which it is based are taken from a French dietitian, 
Dr. A. Gautier. 6 They do not exactly correspond 



6 Gautier, Armand : Diet and Dietetics. Edited and trans- 
lated from the French by A. J. Rice Oreley. 



242 SCHOOL FEEDING 

to figures in American standards, but they are 
sufficiently near the average to show how food 
needs progress with advancing years. 

SCHOOL DIETARIES 

In computing dietaries for use at school, the large 
numbers and different ages of the children make it 
necessary to use average ages and weights. Experi- 
ence in different countries has shown that an ample 
dietary formed with the needs of the ten-year-old 
child weighing about sixty pounds, or 27-28 kilos, 
about meets the requirements for the " average 
child," and, by making the portions larger or 
smaller, may be modified up or down quite easily 
to suit the needs of older and younger children. 

Those in charge of school meals have first to 
decide how much the total daily ration of the 
average child should be and then what proportion 
of this shall be provided in the school meal or meals. 

The following table shows in summary form the 
child's daily requirements for food as these have 
been worked out, first by three men in the school 
feeding movement of three different countries, Italy, 
Switzerland and England, and then the average 



FOOD NEEDS OF CHILDREN MS 

requirements computed by fifteen different experts 
in children's food needs: 

Table 18. Daily Food Needs of the Average Child, Age io. 
Weight 27-28 Kilos 

Average of 
Tonsig Erisman Crowley IS experts 

Fat 23 41 57 40 

Protein 48 60 68 60 

Carbohydrates 282 225 288 250 

Calories 153* 1540 1937 1600 

Calories per kilo... 56 55 72 58 

Protein per kilo ... 1.7 2.1 2.4 2 

The first three estimates represent very fairly 
a low, a middle, and a high standard of food needs, 
and these grades are indicated particularly in the 
figures for protein and fat. These differences are 
dependent upon local variations in national, racial 
and local customs, as well as the demands of climate, 
the muscular and nervous activity and so forth. 

For practical general reference it may be stated 
that those who have studied the diets of school chil- 
dren are in fair agreement that the daily ration of a 
child of ten, weighing 60 pounds, should be com- 
posed as follows: 

Protein 60 grams 

Fats 40 grams 

Carbohydrates 250 grams 

Total 350 grams yielding 1600 Calories. 

16 



244 SCHOOL FEEDING 

PROPORTION OF DAILY RATION TO BE MET BY SCHOOL 

MEAL 

The fraction of the daily ration that is to be 
supplied by the school meal will of course depend 
in large measure upon whether it is breakfast, din- 
ner, or a light lunch. In any case school workers 
are agreed that if the school meal is to be of signifi- 
cant value it must supply deficits in the usual home 
diets of the children, and in its general make-up 
help to raise the home standards. 

Practically this means first that the meal shall 
be a substantial one, and, more important, that the 
elements of fat and protein have to be emphasized. 
This is because fats and protein, being largely 
animal foods, are the most expensive kinds, and are 
therefore bought sparingly by the vast majority 
of families. It is possible to so arrange a dietary 
that enough protein and fat will be supplied for 
comparatively little outlay, but this requires a more 
accurate knowledge of food values than is common 
among housewives. 

The following table shows how the problem of 
the distribution of foodstuffs in the different meals 
has been worked out by experts in connection with 



FOOD NEEDS OF CHILDREN 245 

the school feeding movement in three different 
countries, Switzerland, Germany, and England: 

Table 19. Showing Amounts of Various Foodstuffs Con- 
sidered Necessary at Different Meals for the Average 
School Child Weighing 27-28 Kilos 

Protein Fat Carbohydrates 

Authority Meal Grams Grams Grams Calories 

Erisman : Breakfast ... 13 10 37 285 

Dinner 40 26 100 794 

Supper 7 5 98 465 

Total 60 41 235 1544 

Rubner : Breakfast ... 13 12 37 308 

Dinner 36 26 104 794 

Supper 15 12 45 348 

Total 64 50 186 1450 

Crowley : Breakfast ... 19 20 86 600 

Dinner 29 18 154 894 

Supper 20 19 48 443 

Total 68 57 288 1937 

In this table the breakfasts are suitable for a light 
lunch, and on the average are designed to furnish 
about one-quarter of the day's fuel needs, about one- 
quarter of the protein and a little less than one- 
third of the fat. 

The dinners furnish on an average over half the 
day's fuel requirements, or 827 out of a total of 
1643 Calories. Over half of the total protein is 



246 SCHOOL FEEDING 

supplied in the dinners, on an average, and a little 
less than one-half of the fat. 

Ideally, the food of each child should be so 
arranged as to give the right proportion at the 
proper intervals according to age, degree of activity, 
etc. But for the practical purpose of meeting actual 
needs, modified from the normal by poverty and 
ignorance, the one meal at school must be planned 
to supply the deficit in the day's total. 

The difference in distribution of foodstuffs in 
these two arrangements is illustrated in the follow- 
ing table : 

Table 20. Comparison of Distribution of Food Constitu- 
ents and Values in the Three Daily Meals Under 
Conditions of Good Home Feeding with Distribution 
When School Meals Supplement Poor Home Feeding. 
All Figures are Percentages. 

Protein Fat Carbohydrates Calories 

HS HS HS HS 

Breakfast ..10 23 10 29 20 23 20 25 

Lunch 40 55 50 48 40 50 46 so 

Supper 50 22 40 23 40 27 34 25 



Total .... 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 

The actual amount of food is the same, but the 

proportions are different. In this table H indicates 

well balanced home meals 7 and S the school break- 

T Kaup, Dr. J.: Die Ernahrungsverhaltnisse der Volk- 
schulkinder, p. 53. 



FOOD NEEDS OF CHILDREN 247 

fast and school lunch supplementing the actual 
inadequate home meal at night. The figures refer 
to percentages of the day's total requirements. 

The salient points with respect to the food needs 
of growing children and their relation to the prob- 
lem of school feeding may be summarized as 
follows : 

i. Food elements are of two kinds, tissue builders and 
energy suppliers. 

2. Tissue building food elements are known as proteins 
and energy supplying elements as carbohydrates and fats. 

3. Food values are measured by the heat unit called the 
Calorie. 

4. The consensus of opinion of authorities on children's 
dietaries is that the ten-year-old child weighing 60 pounds 
should receive each day food containing 60 grams of protein, 
250 grams of carbohydrates and 40 grams of fat, and having 
a fuel value of 1600 Calories. 

5. Students of the problems of school feeding are agreed 
that where school meals are provided they should be so 
arranged as to supply deficiencies found in the home meals. 

6. This generally means that the school meal, if a mid- 
day dinner, shall supply at least one-half of the daily require- 
ments in heat units, and more than half of the daily re- 
quirements in fats and proteins. 

The way in which these principles are applied in 
the actual construction of menus for the school meal 
will be discussed in the chapter following. 



XII 

School Menus 

One day in December, 19 10, the writer went at 
noon to the school yard of a large public school in 
New York City and made notes on the lunches 
the children were eating. With the help of a teacher 
four lunches were selected as typical of the kind 
of lunches bought by the children in stores and 
pushcarts near the school, and the children were 
given pennies and asked to buy duplicates of what 
they had eaten. The lunches bought in this way 
were as follows : a tiny frankfurter and roll, costing 
one cent; a Swiss cheese sandwich, costing two 
cents; two small bananas and two long licorice 
" shoestrings," costing two cents; two frosted cup 
cakes, costing three cents. 

In order to find out the real amount of food the 
children were getting for their pennies, the material 
in these lunches was weighed and analyzed in the 
Nutrition Laboratory at Teachers College. 

Some interesting things were disclosed by this 

experiment. The frankfurter, which was a sort of 
248 



SCHOOL MENUS 249 

cerise in color, was found to be heavily dyed, and 
the frosted cakes were dyed with a bright yellow 
substance. Dyeing, in itself a form of adulteration, 
is usually a cloak to some other adulteration — in 
sausages, to conceal " filling-," or the use of bad 
meat. In the lunch of bananas and licorice, that 
bulked quite large and was probably fairly satisfy- 
ing at the time, the only nourishment was in the 
bananas, for the licorice had neither sugar nor 
glucose, nor any trace of a real food substance. 

The exact composition of the food in the lunches 
as revealed by analysis is shown in the following 
table, in which is given the number of grams of 
protein, fat and carbohydrates in each case: 

Table 21. Comparative Food Value of Lunches Purchased 

by Children 

A BCD 

Frankfurters Banana & Swiss cheese Frosted 
and roll licorice bread cakes 

Protein 5 .6 12 8 

Fat 6 7 19 

Carbohydrates 9 24.4 46 76 

Total grams 20 25 65 103 

Total Calories no 108 295 507 

Cost 1 c. 1 c. 2 c. 3 c. 

The real question is how much food value these 
lunches yielded for each cent expended upon them, 



250 SCHOOL FEEDING 

and this is shown in the following table in which 
are given the number of Calories and the total num- 
ber of grams of food material, of protein, and of 
fat purchased for one cent in each case: 

Table 22. Food Values Purchased by One Cent 

A B C D Average 

Calories no 54 147 169 120 

Grams of food 20 12.5 32.5 34-3 25 

Grams of protein 5 .3 6. 2.6 3-5 

Grams of fat 6 .... 3-5 6.3 3.95 

This table shows in different units just how much 
the children received for each cent that they spent. 
The next question is how much they might have 
received had they spent the same amounts in pur- 
chasing carefully planned school lunches instead of 
buying from the small shops in the neighborhood. 
The tables presented show the food values of four 
lunches bought by the children in the small shops. 
These consisted of one i-cent lunch, two costing 
2 cents, and one costing 3 cents. A similar analysis 
has been made of the food constituents of four 
planned lunches such as are daily being served in 
the schools of New York and Philadelphia. These 
likewise consisted of one i-cent lunch, two costing 
2 cents each, and one costing 3 cents. 



SCHOOL MENUS 



251 



The contrast between the values of the two sets 
of lunches is shown in the following diagram in 
which the first upright column shows the average 

School 
Lunch 



Unplanned 
Lunch 



17.^ 



3«- 



3-9 
2* 



it. 6 



6 



VI. Average purchasing power of one cent spent for unplanned lunch, 
contrasted with purchasing power if spent for school lunch. Carbohydrates 
in outline; fats in horizontal lining; protein in solid black. 

purchasing power of one cent when the food is 
bought at the small shops, and the second column 
what one cent purchases on the average when the 
food is furnished with planned lunches. 



252 SCHOOL FEEDING 

The diagram shows that the child who patronizes 
the school lunch buys on the average 44 grams of 
food material for each cent, whereas the one who 
visits the small shop gets only 25 grams. The con- 
trast is no less striking when the units of food values 
in Calories are computed. The average number of 
Calories purchased for one cent at the small shops 
is only 118, whereas that bought by the same 
amount spent in the school lunch room is 200 
Calories. The child who is able to purchase a 
planned lunch at cost price gets more protein for 
his money, more fats and more carbohydrates. He 
gets nearly twice as much food and gets it unadul- 
terated. 

Studies of the home diets of children, particularly 
those who are underfed, have shown that they are 
deficient in protein and fat, and this is likely to 
happen in any case where the food . is provided by 
people ignorant and careless of the right food for 
children. The reason is that meat, fish, milk, eggs, 
oils, etc., are everywhere more expensive than bread, 
coffee, and canned foods, and that naturally these 
are either supplied in small quantities or not at all, 
and no attempt is made to make up the deficit by 
the use of less expensive sources of protein and fat. 



SCHOOL MENUS 253 

the need: well constructed and economical 

MENUS 

'The two main problems of constructing menus 
for a school meal are, first, how to assure the chil- 
dren a lunch that shall be satisfying to the appetite, 
yield a fair proportion of the day's whole ration, 
and make up for the probable deficiencies in the 
children's home diets ; and second, how all this is to 
be done, while keeping the whole cost of food, prep- 
aration and service within the ability of the school 
children to pay. 

These two problems have been solved so success- 
fully in Bradford, England, that the experience there 
may well stand as model for other places. 

When the school authorities in Bradford began 
to provide meals in accordance with the provisions 
in the National Education Act of 1906 * the Direc- 
tor of Medical Inspection, Dr. Ralph Crowley, and 
the Superintendent of Domestic. Science, Miss 
Cuff, with infinite care and study made out a set of 
menus to meet the special needs of the children in 
their schools. 

The following specimen menus, with the excep- 
tion of the supper, are examples of the sort of food 

1 See p. 43ff T this text. 



254 SCHOOL FEEDING 

Dr. Crowley considered necessary for the children 
of Bradford if they were to grow and play and 
work in the best way : 

BREAKFAST 

Oatmeal Porridge, Treacle, Milk and Bread and Butter 

Material Quantity Protein Fat 

Material (grains) (grains) 

Oatmeal i oz. 72 31 

Treacle 1 oz. 

Milk ^2 oz. 140 176 

Bread 2 oz. 80 12 

Margarine — Va oz. ... 92 

Total Calories, 600. 292 (18.9 grams) 31 1(20.1 grams) 

Wholesale cost, 2.204 cents. 
Retail cost, 2.5 cents. 

DINNER NO. XI 

Cottage Pie (Meat with Crust), Green Peas and Gravy; 

Stewed Fruit 

Material Quantity Protein Fat 

(grains) (grains) 

Beef 2 oz. 162 17 

Potato 3 oz. 24 1 

Onion 1 oz. 6 1 

Flour i^4 oz. 87 7 

Margarine .. Y\Oz. 3 279 

Peas 1^2 oz. 162 6 

Bread 1^ oz. 60 9 

Fruit 3 oz. 4 

Sugar ^2 oz. 

Total Calories, 894. 508 (33 grams) 320 (21 grams) 

Wholesale cost, 3.0 cents. 
Retail cost, 4.27 cents. 



SCHOOL MENUS 255 

TEA 

Bread and Margarine, Tea with Milk 

Material Quantity Protein Fat 

(grains) (grains) 

Bread 6 oz. 240 36 

Margarine .. Yz oz. 2 184 

Milk 4 oz. 56 70 

Tea 1/10 oz. 



298 ( 19.3 grams) 290 ( 18.8 grams) 

Total Calories, 443. 
Wholesale cost, 2.07 cents. 
Retail cost, 2.17 cents. 

(In Appendix E will be found the menus of all the seven- 
teen dinners.) 

Breakfast. — The breakfast menu was never varied 
in practice after it proved on trial to be more satis- 
factory than any other combination. The oatmeal, 
milk and bread furnish 19 grams of protein, and 
the oatmeal, milk, bread and margarine furnish 20 
grams of fat, while the starch and sugar in the 
treacle and bread form the carbohydrates. The 
breakfast yielding a total of 600 Calories is designed 
to furnish between one-quarter and one-third of the 
day's ration. 

Supper. — The supper is made out, not like the 
others on the basis of the child's real needs to be 



256 SCHOOL FEEDING 

met in a school meal, but on the basis of what inves- 
tigation showed was the children's most usual home 
supper. Dr. Crowley says that the protein and fat 
estimates are probably a trifle higher than is actually 
the case, while the carbohydrates may be too low. 

Dinners. — There are in all 17 dinner menus, 
which are served in rotation, providing considerable 
variety. There are among them four different kinds 
of soup and boiled puddings. Six are " vegetarian " 
dinners consisting mostly of savory vegetable stews 
with milk pudding or wholemeal cake. The most 
elaborate dinner is fish and potato pie, green peas 
and lemon sauce, blancmange and jam. This is an 
example of the meals served on Fridays. 

The protein in the dinners is provided in meat, 
milk or beans and peas. The greater part of the 
fat is from meat or margarine, though in a few cases 
a vegetable fat, called " nutter," is used. 

In the menu given above, there are 33 grams of 
protein and 21 grams of fat, and both these are 
slightly higher than the average in all the dinners, 
which are: 29 grams protein and 18 grams fat. 
The large amount of protein is due to the use of 
peas and meat together. 



SCHOOL MENUS 257 

The dinner menus are arranged so that the pro- 
tein never falls below 24 grams and is more often 
29 grams or a little over. The other component 
parts vary greatly in amount in the different menus, 
but this is less important than a variation in the 
amount of protein daily, for the reason that both 
fat arid carbohydrates may be stored in the body 
for future use, whereas any excess of protein over 
what is needed at the time for tissue building is 
eliminated as soon as possible. This means that the 
supply has to be kept up, though it need not be 
large. 

The Bradford kitchens are equipped to serve ten 
thousand meals a day and it is probable that no 
such careful plan has ever been made for the feed- 
ing of large numbers of children that has worked 
out so practically. There are several important 
principles illustrated by the Bradford regimen that 
must be taken into account in any similar under- 
taking. They are as follows: 

1. The proper amount and proportion of foodstuffs are 
provided each day. The protein and fat elements are em- 
phasized. 

2. There is great variety in the kind of foods in the 
dinners, where variety is more essential than at other meals. 

17 



258 SCHOOL FEEDING 

3. The foods are simple, easily digested, are prepared 
palatably, and served daintily 3 and are valuable in cultivating 
the taste for the right sorts of food. 

4. Finally there is the question of economy, — the meals 
are very cheap. The wholesale rate per child never exceeds 
three cents, for a dinner, while the breakfast costs in all 
two cents. 

Menus in Paris Cantines. 3 — In the Paris cantines, 
though there is no plan like Bradford's, the meals 
are hearty, well prepared and well served, and afford 
considerable variety. In schools where there are 
very small children they are given different food 
from the rest and have, as a rule, milk in some form, 
and their meat is cut into small pieces. 

The menus in each district 3 are made out once 
a month and a printed copy hung up on the kitchen 
wall at each cantine. Following is a specimen of 
a two weeks' plan for one school : 

1. Monday: Beef broth and bread. Vermicelli, cooked in 
milk, with hashed beef. 
Tuesday: Macaroni and veal. 
Wednesday: Beef stew, potatoes. 
Thursday: Macaroni, sardines. 
Friday: Veal, white beans. 
Saturday: Cabbage soup, sausages. 

* See p. 48ft., this text. 8 See p. 77 ft., this text 



SCHOOL MENUS 259 

2. Monday: Vegetable soup, red beans, roast beef. Milk 
porridge, bread, red beans, roast beef. 

Tuesday: Beef stew, potatoes. 

Wednesday: Veal stew, lentils. Vermicelli in milk, 
veal stew, lentils. 

Thursday: Rice cooked in oil and cheese. 

Friday: Beef stew, white beans. 

Saturday : Potato puree, sausages. 

Some of the Paris schools serve more elaborate 
meals, giving soup, meat and vegetables and a little 
dessert. It is quite customary, however, for children 
to bring their own desserts, as well as their own 
bread. 

Local Menus in New York. — In Bradford or 
Paris there is no special difficulty in getting dishes 
that all the children will eat, as they are almost all 
of the same nationality and are used to the same 
general foods. In a city like New York, with its 
heterogeneous population, it would be impossible 
to give the same food to the children of different 
sections. There are religious as well as national 
customs that must not be violated. In a school 
where there are large numbers of Catholics, meat 
must not be served on Fridays and other fast days. 
In Jewish districts the laws of Kosher must be 
observed. At the same time, a taste for new kinds 



260 SCHOOL FEEDING 

of food must be cultivated, and elements wanting in 
the home meals must be supplied. 

Following are specimen menus made out for an 
Italian and an Irish- American district: 

Rice and beans with tomato. Clam chowder. 

Polenta — cornmeal with cheese, Samp. 

tomato, oil. Macaroni soup. 

Menestra — vegetables stewed Baked beans. 

in oil. Boiled rice. 

Lima beans and postum. Noodle soup. 

Macaroni, cheese, tomato. Vegetable soup. 

Rice, tomato and cheese. Rice pudding and cocoa. 

Potato soup and fish. Cocoa and prunes. 

Cheese sandwich and cocoa. Apple sauce and crackers. 

Pea soup. Barley soup. 

These menus which are always served with bread 
contain on an average 30 grams of protein, 13 
grams of fat, and 130 grams of carbohydrates, and 
yield about 750 Calories. This equals one-third to 
one-half of what Dr. Wile, who superintends the 
dietary end of the lunches, considers necessary for 
the day's food supply of the children in the schools. 



ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY 

ON 

SCHOOL FEEDING 



ARRANGED ACCORDING TO TOPICS 



I. Belgium. 
II. Food Values, Dietaries, Etc. 

III. France. 

IV. Germany. 

V. Great Britain. 
VI. Italy. 
VII. Malnutrition. 
VIII. Periodicals. 
IX. Switzerland. 
X. United States. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 



I. Belgium 
Bruxelles, Julien Baertsoen : College au conseil communal. 
Enquete sur l'habillement, la nourriture et le logement 
des eleves des ecoles communales. Rapport, 1896, 68 
pages. 

Montgomery, Jessie Douglas: School Hygiene in Brussels. 
In London. Board of Education. Special reports on 
educational subjects. London, Wyman & Sons, 1898, 
pp. 689-787. 

Synge, M. B., and May, M. G. : Provision Made for Children 
under Compulsory School Age in Belgium, France, Ger- 
many, and Switzerland. Special Reports on Educational 
Subjects, vol. 22, 1909. Board of Education, Great 
Britain (Cd. 4477), price is. 3d. 

(Children's Homes, etc., for children of working 
mothers; food carefully attended to; paid for by 
parents when possible.) 

II. Food Values, Dietaries, etc. 

Atwater, Wilbur Olin, and Bryant, A. P.: The Chemical 
Composition of American Food Materials. Washington, 
Government Printing Office, 1906. Rev. ed., 87 pp. (U. 
S. Office of Experiment Stations. Bulletin No. 28.) 

Atwater, W. O., Ph.D. (Special Agent in Charge of Nu- 
trition Investigations, Office of Experiment Station, U. S. 
Bureau of Agriculture.) : Principles of Nutrition and 

263 



264 BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Nutritive Value of Food. Farmers' Bulletin No. 142 
(Corrected to April 5, 1906). Washington, Government 
Printing Office. 

(Popular introduction to the study of food values, 
standards used being based on observation of what people 
do eat, not on experimental work.) 

Auden, George A., M.D. (Med. Sup. Birmingham Ed. 
Com.) : The Feeding of Necessitous School Children. 
In the Medical Officer, vol. 1, No. 30, 1909, p. 767 ff. 
London, Whitefriars Street, Fleet Street, E. C. 

(Food values of breakfasts in Birmingham and other 
places.) 

Berry, Elmer: The Effects of a High and Low Protein 
Diet on Physical Efficiency. Amer. Phys. Ed. Rev. XIV, 
1909, p. 288 ff. 

(Account of experiment in low protein diet for 
athletes in Springfield, Mass., Y. M. C. A.) 

Bryant, Louise Stevens: (a) Some Recent Experimental 
Work on Children's Food Needs. The Dietetic and 
Hygienic Gazette, June, 191 1. 

(An account of work on children's diets analogous to 
Chittenden's work on that of adults. Comparative study 
of fifteen standard dietaries. Four tables.) 
(b) Nutrition and Growth in the Special Class for Back- 
ward Children, by Lightner Witmer. The Psychological 
Clinic Press, Philadelphia, Pa., 1912. 

(An account of six weeks' feeding of a class of 
eighteen backward children, giving dietaries, menus, 
food values, accounts of home feeding, results on weight, 
height, haemoglobin, etc.) 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 265 

Camerer, Wilhelm : Der Stoffwechsel des Kindes (von der 
Geburt bis um Beendigung des Wachstums). Tubingen, 
1896. Laupp. 

(Record of observational work on his own children's 
diets.) 

Chittenden, Russell H. : The Nutrition of Man. New 
York. Frederick A. Stokes Co., 1907. 301 pp. 

(Most extensive account that has appeared of results 
and conclusions following experimental work on the 
true food needs of the body. Technical, but with some 
matter on practical applications. No reference to chil- 
dren's diets.) 

Corbett, Florence R. : Dietaries for Charitable Institutions. 
State Board of Charities, New York, 1906. 

Dukes, C. : The Essentials of School Diet. London, 1899, 
211 pp. 

Food Values, Practical Methods in Diet Calculations. 
Bulletin of the American School of Home Economics, 
March, 1909, Series I, No. 13. Chicago, 111., 606 W. 
69th Street. 

(An account of Prof. Irving Fisher's graphic method 
of calculating food values by the hundred Calories portion, 
and the use of his graphic chart and mechanical diet 
indicator. Valuable for the practical worker in diets. 
Bibliography.) 

Gautier, Armand: Diet and Dietetics. Edited and trans- 
lated from the French by A. J. Rice Oreley. Philadel- 
phia. J. B. Lippincott. 1906. 

(Takes up children's diets, especially relation between 
growth and changing needs.) 



266 BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Gibbs, Winifred Stuart: Popular Education in Dietetics. 
In The Journal of Home Economics, April, 1910. 
(An account of the work of a "visiting dietitian.") 

Hall, Winfield S. : Nutrition and Dietetics. New York and 
London. D. Appleton & Co. 1910. 

(General treatment. Short section on "rations varied 
by sex and age.") 

Hendrick, Burton J.: Some Modern Ideas on Food. In 
McClure's Magazine, Vol. xxxiv, April, 1910, p. 653 ff. 
New York. 

(A review in non-technical terms of the most recent 
scientific observations and experiments with especial 
reference to the " low-protein diet " and " Fletcherism." 
Accurate and interesting.) 

Heubner: Eine Betrachtung iiber die Ernahrung des 
Kindes jenseits des Sauglingsalters. Jacobi's Festchrift, 
p. 290. 

Hunt, Caroline L. : The Daily Meals of School Children. 
Washington, Government Printing Office, 1909. 

(Main emphasis on food values and dietaries for 
children. Bibliography and index.) 

Hutchinson, Robert: (a) Food and the Principles of Die- 
tetics. London, Arnold. 1906. 

(General text-book on Nutrition. Not written es- 
pecially for the trained reader. Considerable matter on 
children's diets.) 

(b) Improper Feeding of Cardiff Children. (Brit. Med. 
Jour., 1907, No. 2404, pp. 226, 227.) 



BIBLIOGRAPHY £67 

Kellogg, J., M.D. : The Battle Creek Sanitarium Diet List. 
Modern Medicine Publishing Company, Ltd., Battle 
Creek, Michigan, 1909. 

(Standard dietaries for different ages made out in 
accordance with the low-protein diet principles. Tables 
of normal weights and heights.) 

Langworthy, C. F. : Food and Diet in the United States. 
Reprint from Year Book of Department of Agriculture 
for 1907. Washington, Government Printing Office. 

(Account of various dietary standards, with general 
information about food and food values that may be of 
practical use. The standards followed are the older ones 
of Voit and Atwater, no account being taken of the 
more recent results of definite experimental work.) 

Leach, Albert E. : Food Inspection and Food Analysis. 
John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1909. 

Legendre. P.: The Nourishment of Youths of Both Sexes 
in the Family and in Educational Institutions. (Rev. Soc. 
Sci. Hyg. Aliment, 3 (Paris, 1906), No. 3, pp. 450-468.) 

Locke, Edwin A., M.D. : A Report of Dietary Studies made 
at the Franklin Park Hospital School for Tubercular 
Children (Boston, Mass.). Proceedings of the Sixth 
Cong. Amer. School Hygiene Assoc, Springfield, Mass., 
1 91 2. 

(Account of food values of daily home and school 
meals of 191 children, giving cost of school meals, 
amount of protein ingested, etc. A careful and useful 
piece of work.) 



268 BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Lungwitz, Hans: Stoffwechselversuche iiber den Eiweissbe- 
darf des Kindes. Halle a S., Carl Marhold. 1908. (82 pp.) 
(This is a summary of all the work, observational 
and experimental, on the protein needs of children. It 
deals particularly with Siegert's work and corroborative 
experiments made by the author. It is the only work 
on children's true protein needs at all comparable to Dr. 
Chittenden's work on adults. Tables. Bibliography. 
The bibliography is of especial interest to the scientific 
student of metabolism and the pathology and therapy of 
nutrition.) 

Maurel, E. : Rapport sur la ration d'entretien aux divers 
ages. In Revue d'Hygiene Alimentaire. Ill, 1906. pp. 
763*854. Paris. Masson et Cie. 120 Boulevard Saint- 
Germain. Price 2 francs. 

(A complete outline of all the food needs from infancy 
to old age, including considerations of weight, height, 
cutaneous surface, lung activity, climate, etc. Tables 
showing relation of growth to nutrition, typical regimens 
for every period of life. Clear style, concrete treatment, 
with a practical point of view throughout. The estimates 
given have been submitted to years of test in general 
practice.) 

Milner, Robert Denniston: The Cost of Food as Related 
to its Nutritive Value. In U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. 
Year Book, 1902. Washington, 1903. pp. 387-406. 

Muller, Erich: Stoffwechselversuche an 32 Kindern im 
3 bis 6 Lebensjahre mit Beriicksichtigung des Kraft- 
wechsels auf Grund direkter calorimetrischer Bestim- 
mungen. In Biochemische Zeitschrift. V. 1907. (2, 3, 
4, Heft.) pp. 143-303. Berlin. Julius Springer. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 269 

(Observational merely; no experimental data, as with 
Siegert and Lungwitz. The children under observation 
were from 2 to 6 years old, in weight from 9 to 17 kilos. 
Bibliography. A summary table of the material in this 
article is given in Lungwitz, pp. 22.) 

Richards, Ellen Henrietta : (a) First Lessons in Food and 
Diet. Boston, Whitcomb & Barrows, 1894. 52 pp. 

(b) Plain Words about Food. The Rumford Kitchen Leaf- 
lets, 1899. Boston, Rockwell and Churchill Press, 1899. 
176 pp., 10 plates, diagram. 

Richards, Ellen Henrietta, and Woodman, Alpheus C. : 
Air, Water and Food (from a Sanitary Standpoint). 
John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1909. 

Rubner, Max, M.D. : (a) Gesetze des Energieverbrauchs bei 
der Ernahrung, 1902. 

(b) Das Problem der Lebensdauer and seine Beziehungen zu 
Wachstum and Ernahrung, Munich und Berlin. R. 
Oldenbourg, 1908, 208 pp. 

(c) Kraft und Stoff im Haushalt der Natur. Akad. Verlags- 
gesellschaft. m. b. H. Leipsig, 1909. 

(A popular, yet philosophical treatise on the processes 
of nutrition. A summary of Rubner's work on Nu- 
trition.) 

(d) Volksernahrungsfragen. Leipsig. Verlagsgesellschaft m. 
b. H. 1908. 

(1. The minimum requirement of protein. The prac- 
tical issues involved in the " low protein " standard of 
nutrition. A critical study of the complex nature of 
protein metabolism. 2. The diet of the poor. Influence 
of poverty on nutrition.) 



270 BIBLIOGRAPHY 

(e) Die Ernahrungsverhaltnisse der Volkschulkinder. (Re- 
port of address at Congress on School Feeding in 
Darmstadt, May, 1909.) Pub. in Schriften der Zentral- 
stelle fur Volkswohlfahrt. Heft 4 der neuen Folge der 
Schriften der Zentralstelle fur Arbeiter-Wohlfahrtein- 
richtungen. Berlin. Carl Heymanns. 1909. p. 132 ff. 

Schroeder: "Qber die Ernahrung 8-15 Jahriger Kinder. 
Archiv fur Hygiene, IV 39, 1886. 

Sherman, Henry C. : Chemistry of Food and Nutrition. 
New York, Macmillan Co., 191 1. 

(An authoritative treatment in non-technical language, 
with sections on children's diets.) 

(Further experimental work on children's diets.) 

Siegert, F., M.D. : (a) Der Nahrungsbedarf des Kindes jen- 
seits des Ersten Lebensjahres. (Koln.) (Verhandlungen 
der Gesellschaft fur Kinderheilkunde. 1906. Stuttgart.) 
J. F. Bergmann. Wiesbaden. 1907. 

(Account of first experimental work on children's 
food needs.) 

(b) Der Eiweissbedarf des Kindes. Arch. f. Exper. Path- 
ologie und Pharm. 1008. Supplt. Bd., pp. 489-495. 

Simple Dishes for Children of School Age. Boston Cooking 
School Magazine, 13 : 145, Oct., 1908. 

Smedley, E., Milner, R. D., Knight, Pratt, and Lang- 
worthy: Dietary Studies in Public Institutions. Wash- 
ington, Government Printing Office, 1910, 98 pp. 

Stewart, Gwendolyn : Diet in Relation to Growth. Jour. 
Home Economics, Feb., 191 1, pp. 81-86. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 271 

Sutherland, G. A. : A System of Diet and Dietaries, London, 
1908. 

(Summary and discussion of recent clinical and other 
work on dietaries; all ages, from infancy to end of 
school life.) 

Voelcker, A. F. : Some Common Errors in the Diet and 
General Hygiene of Children. (Brit Med. Jour., 1907, 
No. 2404, pp. 181-185. 

Watson, C. : A Plea for the Use of Oatmeal in the Dietary 
of Children. Brit. Med. Jour., 1907, No. 2417, pp. 985, 
986, Figs. 2. 

Witmer, Lightner, Ph.D. : The Special Class for Backward 
Children. The Psychological Clinic Press, Phila., Pa. 
1911. 

(Contains chapter on Nutrition and Growth. See 
reference under Bryant.) 

III. France 

Butte, L. : (a) Les cantines scolaires. L' hygiene scolaire, 
189, 1910. (b) L'education physique. La medecine 
scolaire, 4, 51 (1911). 

Courgey, Dr. : Cantines Scolaires. La Medicine Scolaire. 
June 10, 1908, pp. 85-92, Paris. Librairie Ch. Delagrave. 
15 Rue Soufflot. 

(Short history of the Paris cantines, and an estimate 
of their value by a medical inspector.) 

Elliott, Charles Alfred: Cantines Scolaires of Paris. 
Nineteenth century, 59:834-41, May, 1906. 

(Case against them. Their expense used as argument 
against their adoption by England.) 



Tl% BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Kleine, Marcel: The Cantines Scolaires of Paris. (Inter- 
national Congress for the Welfare and Protection of 
Children. Special conference, 1906.) Report of the 
proceedings. Westminster. Published for the Com- 
mittee by P. S. King & Son, pp. 65-70. Discussion, 
pp. 70-82. 

(History and description.) 

Lancet Reports : The Free Feeding of School Children. A 
reprint of the reports by the Special Sanitary Commis- 
sioner of the Lancet on the action taken by the 
municipalities with regard to the provision of meals for 
the children attending the elementary schools of Paris, 
Brussels, Milan, Vercelli, San Remo, Mentone, Nice, 
Cannes, Toulon, and Marseilles. Second edition, 1907. 
The Offices of The Lancet, 423, 424 Strand, London, 
W. C. Price 3d. 

(Those interested in the important questions of the 
popular and political reactions to the introduction of 
meals into the schools will find these reports most valu- 
able. The political and financial dangers and complica- 
tions as well as their final solution are given in detail 
for each place.) 

Laurentie, Francois: La Protection de l'Enfance. Rheims. 
(L' Action Populaire.) 

(Summary of French movements toward child wel- 
fare.) 

Lavergne, F.: (a) (Chef du Secretariat de la Direction de 
TEnseignement.) Les £coles et les (Euvres Municipales 
D'Enseignement. 1871-1900. (Ville de Paris.) 447 PP- 
Paris Societe Anonyme de Publications Periodiques. P. 
Mouillot, Imprimeur. 13 Quai Voltaire. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 273 

(Complete, non-official discussion of the entire public 
educational system of Paris, from the maternal schools 
to the higher, professional colleges, including night 
schools, art and industrial work, and central administra- 
tion, and finally the extra-academic activities, such as 
the cantines, medical inspection, excursions, vacation 
colonies, military classes, student insurance. The book 
is of particular value because of the general difficulty 
of obtaining first-hand information about French institu- 
tions. The administration of the cantines is treated at 
some length.) 
(b) Organisation des Cantines Scolaires a Paris. A report 
in manuscript manifold issued by the " Direction de l'En- 
seignement primaire 3me Bureau. Prefecture du departe- 
ment de la Seine." 

(An account of the origin and history of the cantines 
in Paris from 1879 to 1903, with a detailed description 
of their conduct in the 18th district, regarded as the 
model in this respect.) 

IV. Germany 

Albu, A. : Der Anteil der Schule an den Storungen der 
Entwicklung und Ernahrung der Kinder. Reprinted 
from Zeitschr. f. pad. Psych., Path. u. Hygiene. 

Fischer: Einrichtungen fur die Speisung armer Volkschul- 
kinder in den Stadten Dresden, Prag, Wien, Niirnberg, 
usw. Berlin, 1908. 

Kaup, Dr., Med. I.: (a) (Zentralstelle fiir Volkswohlfahrt, 

Berlin.) Schulspeisung armer Kinder. (Referat auf der 

Konferenz der Deutschen Zentrale fiir Jugendfursorge 

in Berlin. Am. 31 Mai 1907.) 25 pp. Sonderabdruck 

18 



274 BIBLIOGRAPHY 

aus der Zeitschrift der Zentralstelle " Concordia," No. 24, 
vom 15 Dec, 1907. Carl Heymanns, Berlin W. 8, 
Mauerstrasse 43/44. 

(This was the first time the school feeding problem 
in Germany had been considered from the point of view of 
the trained dietitian. The first part of the book con- 
siders the food needs of the school child and includes 
comparative tables of growth. The second part deals 
with organizations for school feeding in Germany, but 
this material is superseded and included in Kaup's later 
book. See below.) 
(&) Die Ernahrungsverhaltnisse der Volkschulkinder. (Vor- 
bericht und Verhandlungen der 3 Konferenz der Zentral- 
stelle fiir Volkswohlfahrt. 1909. Darmstadt.) Berlin. 
Carl Heymanns Verlag. 1909. 170 pp. 22 tables. 

(This is an account of the most extensive investigation 
of School Feeding that has ever been made in any 
country. It covers the reports of school feeding or- 
ganizations in all towns of 10,000 and over in the German 
Empire; these are analyzed and the results tabulated; 
an account of the daily food of about 500,000 school 
children; the report of a special examination of the 
nutritional conditions of 170,000 children. The causes 
and effects of malnutrition are discussed at length. 
Plans and outlines for future work, the correlated social 
reforms, etc., are given. Critical analysis of the food 
values in the meals of some 25 towns.) 
(c) Ernahrung und Lebenskraft der landlichen Bevolke- 
rung. Schr. d. Z. f. V. Heft 6 N. F. 

Lemberg, Hedwig: Schulspeisung in Wien. Reprinted from 
Nos. 5 and 6, II Jahr. der Zeitschr. fiir Kinderschutz und 
Jugendfiirsorge. Vienna, 1910. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 275 

Munsterberg: Schulspeisung. Handbuch d. St. Art. Kinder- 
fursorge. Berlin. 

Riegel, Maria: Schulspeisung in Mannheim, 1909. 

Rubner, Dr. Max: Leitsatze betreffend die Ernahrungs- 
verhaltnisse der Volkschulkinder. In Internationales 
Archiv fur Schulhygiene. Vol. VI, No. 3, Mai ■ 1910, 

PP. 357-364. 

(Proposals in regard to permanently bettering the 
nutrition of school children, by meals in school, but 
more especially by the installation of Day Homes, for 
children below as well as of school age, with working 
mothers ; by widespread provision for 1 sick and unem- 
ployed, such as insurance, pensions, etc. These pro- 
posals are summarized in French and English as well as 
German.) 

Seydel: (Stadtrat, Charlottenburg) : Die Mittagsspeisung 
von Schulkindern in Charlottenburg in Archiv fur Volks- 
wohlfahrt, II, 4, Jan., 1909, pp. 227-231. 

(Charlottenburg has one of the best systems in Ger- 
many. It corresponds in some respects to Bradford, 
England. The educational and aesthetic possibilities of 
the school meal are recognized.) 

Simon, Helene: (a) Schulspeisung: Armenpflege oder 

Schulpflege? Gesetzliche Regelung. In Soziale Praxis. 

XVIII, No. 1, Oct., 1908, p. i. Duncker & Humbolt, 

Leipsig. 

(Is school feeding the affair of charity or school? 

Legislative measures necessary if it is to be effective.) 
(b) Schule und Brot. 1908, Leipsig, Leopold Voss. 112 pp. 

1st edition, 1907. 



276 BIBLIOGRAPHY 

(General treatment of the whole problem from the 
social, economic and legal points of view. Propagandist 
rather than statistical. Historical and descriptive account 
of English, French and German systems to date.) 

(c) Die Schulspeisung. 1909, Leipsig. (Oct.) Duncker und 
Humbolt. 93 pp. Appendices. 

(General treatment of whole subject, taking into 
account the latest German reports (see Kaup, No. 2), 
social, economic and legal aspects and implications. 
Other countries.) 

(d) Schulspeisung. 1911. Enzyklop. Handbuch des Kinder- 
schutzes, usw., pp. 206-213. 

(Material in Die Schulspeisung, 1909, brought up to 
date and condensed for encyclopedia. Bibliography.) 

Ziegler, G. : Eine Erhebung iiber die Ernahrungsverhaltnisse 
der Volkschiiler. Die Deutsche Schule. June, 1910. 
XIV Jahrgang, 6 Heft, pp. 374""378. 

V. Great Britain 

Alden, Percy: English Child Life. Outlook, 89:759-763, 
Aug. 1, 1908. 

Anson, Sir William R. : Provision of Food for School 
Children in Public Elementary Schools. Economic 
Journal, 16 : 181-188, June, 1906. 

Barnett, Samuel A.: Free Meals for Underfed Children. 
Independent Review, 6: 154-172, June, 1905. 

Bradford Education Committee: (a) Return as to the 
Pecuniary Circumstances of 966 Families whose Children 
have been Provided with Meals under the Education Act 
(Provision of Meals Act, 1906). 1908. Education Offices, 
Manor Row, Bradford, Eng. Tables. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 277 

(b) Report for 1909. Education Office, Manor Row, Brad- 
ford, Eng. 

(Statistics of school feeding in B., 1908-1909. De- 
scriptive account of plant.) 

(c) Recipes, compiled by Marian E. Cuff (Superintendent 
of Domestic Subjects) and used in the preparation of 
the Seventeen Dinners served in the School Dining 
Rooms. Pub. at Education Offices, Manor Row, Brad- 
ford, Eng., Feb., 1908. 

Bristol Education Committee: Report for year ended 
March 31, 1909. Bristol, Times and Mirror, St. Stephen 
Street, Bristol, Eng. 

Clay, Arthur Temple Felix: (a) Free Meals for Underfed 
Children. Monthly Review, 20 : 94-104, July, 1905. 

(b) School Feeding Question in England. Charities and 
Commons, New York. 17:699^707, Jan. 19, 1907. 

Crowley, R. H. : The Provision of Meals for School Chil- 
dren. Pub. Health (London), 20 (1908), No. 5, pp. 
325-335, chart. 

Davies, Mary A. : The Feeding of School Children and the 
Cookery Classes. Contemporary Review, 87 : 564-569. 
April, 1905. 

Denyer, C. H. : Feeding of School Children at Public 
Expense. Summary of official reports. Economic 
Journal, 16:617-622, Dec, 1906. 

Edwards, A. D. : Evolution, Economy, and the Child. West- 
minster Review, 171 : 78-85, Jan., 1909. 

(A defence of school meals from the points of view 
of national and racial evolution upwards, and national 
economy.) 



278 BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Elliott, Sir Charles : Children's Relief Committees in 
Elementary Schools. In Report of the Proceedings of 
International Congress for Welfare and Protection of 
Children. Special Conference, 1906. Westminster, pub- 
lished for the committee by P. S. King & Son, pp. 50-58. 

Fabian Society: After Bread, Education. A plan for the 

state feeding of school children. London, 1905. 15 pp. 

(Fabian Tract No. 120.) 
The Feeding of School Children. (Pub. Health, London, 

22 (1908), No. 3, pp. 97, 98.) 
Free Meals for School Children. In the Reformer's Year 

Book for 1908, 4 Clement's Inn, London, W. C, p. 94 ff. 
(Short Summary of English Provision of Meals Act, 

1906, with report of English Investigation of Continental 

Systems of School Feeding.) 

Frere, Margaret (Member of the Education Committee, 
London County Council) : A Scheme for Dealing with 
Underfed Children. In International Congress for the 
Welfare and Protection of Children. Special confer- 
ence, 1906.) Report of the proceedings, Westminster, 
Published for the Committee by P. S. King & Son, 
pp. 58-65. 

Children's Care Committees. P. S. King & Son, Great 
Smith Street, Westminster, 1909. is. net. 86 pp. 

(Official Handbook for members of "care com- 
mittees " having charge of social and charitable work 
in schools. Ch. II on " How to Feed Necessitous School 
Children." Appendix giving typical menus.) 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 279 

Gorst, Sir John Eldon : The Children of the Nation : How 
their Health and Vigour should be Promoted by the 
State. London, Methuen & Co., 1907, 207 pp. 

Hughes, Robert Edward: Feeding the School Children, in 
his, The M'aking of Citizens, 2d ed., London (etc.), The 
Walter Scott Publishing Co., 1906, pp. 19-24. 

(Table of sums distributed in various European cities, 
p. 22.) 

Hunter, Robert: Social Significance of Underfed Children. 
International Quarterly, 12 : 330-349, Jan., 1906. 

Loch, C. S. : The Feeding of School Children. Yale Review, 
12 : 230-250, Nov., 1906. 

(A study of the English voluntary system of school 
feeding, and an argument against any form of school 
meals.) 

London School Board: Underfed Children Attending 
School, 1898-1899. Report. London, Alexander & 
Shepheard, printers, 1899, xv, 272 pp. 

Parliamentary Reports of Great Britain. 

(These all to be obtained from Wyman & Sons, Fetter Lane, 
E. C, or Eyre and Spottiswoode, East Harding Street, 
Fleet Street, E. C.) 

1903 (Cd. 1507) Price is. id.: Report of the Royal Com- 
mission of Physical Training (Scotland). Vol. 1, report 
and appendix. 

(Containing findings of committee in regard to nu- 
tritional condition of school children, and proposals in 
regard to school feeding.) 



280 BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1904 (Cd. 2175) Price is. id.: Report of the Inter-Depart- 
mental Committee on Physical Deterioration. Vol. I, 
report and appendix. 

(Proposals of this committee in regard to feeding of 
school children, pp. 65-71.) 

1005 (Cd. 2779 and Cd. 2784) : Report of the Inter-Depart- 
mental Committee on Medical Inspection and Feeding of 
Children Attending Public Elementary Schools. Vol. I. 
(Cd. 2779) Price is. 3d. Vol. II. (Cd. 2784) Price 3s. 

(Includes statistical account of the voluntary systems 
of feeding children in Great Britain in 1905.) 

1906 (Cd. 2926) : Statement of Information collected by the 
Board of Education and the Foreign Office regarding 
methods adopted in Great Continental and American 
Cities for dealing with Underfed Children. 

(Statistical and classified report of systems in 38 
foreign cities.) 

1906 (288) : Special Report and Report from the Select 
Committee on the Education (Provision of Meals) Bill, 
1906; and the Education (Provision of Meals) (Scot- 
land) Bill, 1906; together with the Proceedings of the 
Committee, Minutes of Evidence, and Appendix. Price 
2s. 4d. with Index and Digest of Evidence. 

(Methods and administration in England, particularly in 
voluntary systems of feeding, reported on by 28 wit- 
nesses, all with practical experience. Valuable and sug- 
gestive for practical workers.) 

1007 (Cd. 3637), Mackenzie, W. Leslie, M.D., and Captain 
Foster: Report on a collection of statistics as to the 
Physical Condition of Children Attending the Public 
Schools of the School Board for Glasgow. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 281 

(Most extensive investigation of the kind ever made, 
including 72,800 cases. The heights and weights of the 
children classified according to housing and nutrition.) 

1910 (Cd. 5131) Price 3d.: Report on the Working of the 
Education (Provision of Meals) Act, 1906, up to the 
31st of March, 1909. 

(Includes a classified report of information received 
from over one hundred towns having adopted the act. 
Administrative, financial and educational issues.) 

1910 (Cd. 5724; Price 3d.: Report on Working of Provision 
of Meals Act. 

(Continues Cd. 5131 through Dec, 1909.) 

1911 (Cd. 5925), Newman, George: Annual Report for 1910 
of the Chief Medical Officer of the Board of Education. 

(Complete account of the workings of the Education 
Act, 1906 up to March, 1910. Administration of Act 
now in hands of Medical Division of Board of Educa- 
tion. Section of Malnutrition, Statistics, and Classifica- 
tion, pp. 26-32.) 

London County Council 

(Publications relative to School Feeding. To be obtained 
from P. S. King & Son, 2-4 Great Smith Street, Victoria 
Street, Westminster, S. W.) 

No. 922. 1904-1905 : Report of the Education Committee of 
the London County Council Submitting the Report of 
the Medical Officer (Education) for the Year ended 
March, 1905. 

(Short statement of the London problem, given by 
medical officer. Stigmata of malnutrition, hereditary and 
social factors. What can be done: in general, imme- 
diately.) 



282 BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Nos. 962 and 1074. 1907 : Reports of the Joint Committee on 
Underfed Children. For the years 1905-1906, 1906-1907. 
Price 6d., post free 7d. 

(These reports give the list of schools having meals, 
the numbers fed, and a general account of the work of 
school feeding in London for the year.) 

No. 1203. 1908 : Home Circumstances of " Necessitous " Chil- 
dren in Twelve Selected Schools. Reports by the chair- 
man of the Sub-Committee on Underfed Children and 
the Education officer, submitting report by the organizers. 
(This is a careful inquiry embracing about 1200 chil- 
dren, reported to be underfed, giving tabulated results.) 

No. 1251. 1909: Report of the Education Committee of the 
London County Council Submitting the Report of the 
Medical Officer (Education) for the Twenty-one months 
ended 31st Dec, 1908. Presented to the Council, nth 
May, 1909, pp. 16-20. Price 2s., post free 2s. 3d. 

(School Feeding. Stigmata of malnutrition from the 
point of view of the medical inspector; report of ex- 
amination of over 10,000 children in regard to their 
nutrition, and classified according to nature of the dis- 
trict; heights and weights of children in badly fed and 
well fed sections. Review of Dr. Gastpar's work. See 
Bibliography.) 

No. 1318. 1908-1909: Report of the Education Committee 
Submitting the Report of the Education Officer for the 
Educational Year 1908-1909. Part II. The Provision of 
Meals for Necessitous Children and the Work of 
Children's Care Committees. Presented to the Council 
1st March, 1910. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 283 

(This gives complete statistical account of the work in 
London for 1907-1908 and 1908-1909.) 

Education Committee (Children's Care, Central, Sub-com- 
mittee) : Handbook containing general information with 
reference to the work in connection with the Children's 
Care (Central) Sub-committee. Price is.; post free is. 3d. 
(Official handbook for members, giving technical and 
legal information about all points covered in care com- 
mittee work in London. Appendix J gives 14 typical 
menus for 100 children.) 

McMillan, Margaret, and Cobden- Sanderson, A. : London's 
Children, How to Feed Them and How Not to Feed 
Them. Published by the Independent Labour Party, 
23 Bride Lane, Fleet Street, London, E. G, 1909. Price id. 
(A criticism of present methods of work in London, 
with constructive suggestions for bettering them.) 

Macnamara, Dr. Thomas James: (a) Physical Condition of 

Working-class Children, Nineteenth Century, 56:307-311, 

Aug., 1904. 
(b) In Corpore Sano. Contemporary Review, 87:238-248, 

Jan., 1905. 
O'Brien, M. D. : Child and the Home. Westminster Review, 

165:668-675, June, 1906. 

Oxford House Magazine: January, 1909. Bethnal Green, 
London. Price 6d. Symposium on the Feeding of 
Necessitous Children, pp. 33-54. 

(Written before London adopted 1906 act. Gives 
short history of movement in England, and then argu- 
ments from the " Socialist " and " Individualist " stand- 
point.) 



284 BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Palin, Councillor J. H. : Bradford and its Children: How 

They are Fed. Published by the Independent Labour 

Party, 23 Bride Lane, Fleet Street, London, E. C, 1908. 

(History of movement in Bradford, written by an 

active worker. Interesting.) 

Philpott, Hugh B. : School as a Social Force. In his 
" London at School." London, T. Fisher Unwin, 1904, pp. 
290-314. (The East Lambeth Teachers' Association; the 
penny meal; the scholars' free meal fund can feed 5000 
children a day.) 

Royal Commission on the Poor Laws and the Relief of 
Distress (Minority Report) : Report 1238 pp. (Cd. 
4499) 5s. 6d. See p. 195. Relief School Children's Order, 
1005; pp. 197-108. Education (Provision of Meals) Act, 
1906; pp. 834-840. School Feeding. 

Smyth, A. Watt: Physical Deterioration: Its Causes and 
the Remedy. New York. E. P. Dutton & Co., 1904. 

(The findings of the Parliamentary Commissions on 
National Deterioration in England, brought together in 
readable form, together with suggested remedies. See 
Bibliog. Great Britain Parliamentary Reports. Cd. 1507 
and Cd. 2175.) 

Stewart, Gwendolyn: School Dinners in London Schools. 
In The Journal of Home Economics, Vol. II, No. 2. 

(Account of personal observation of the service and 
organization of meals in the one meal centre in London.) 

Webb, Sidney and Beatrice: The Prevention of Destitution. 
Longmans, Green & Co., 39 Paternoster Row, London, 
1911. 

(Sections showing result of various acts of legislation 
on social progress.) 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 285 



VI. Italy 

Boselli, A.: La refeziona scolastica a Bologna. Boll, delle 
sz. med. Ser VIII 5 (1905). 

Lancet Reports: See Bibliog. Sec. III. 

(Description at first hand of systems in Milan, 
Vercelli, and San Remo.) 

Schiavi, Alessandro (Director of the Labor Bureau of the 
" Societa Umanitaria," Milan, and Municipal Councillor 
of Milan) : Les Cantines Scolaires Municipales de Milan. 
In "Les Annales de la Regie Directe," 1909, June-July, 
Geneva, p. 152 ff. 

(An account of the development of school meals in 
Milan, giving menus, statistical tables of numbers fed, 
finances, etc.) 

Spargo, John: How Foreign Municipalities Feed Their 
School Children. In his " The Bitter Cry of the Chil- 
dren," New York, Macmillan Co., 1906. 

(An account of the free and compulsory system of 
feeding at Vercelli in existence from 1900-1906, now 
succeeded by a privately directed, publicly subsidized 
organization.) 

Tonsig, Dr. C. (Director of Medical Inspection in Padua) : 
"Dber das Schiilerfruhstuck, mit besonderer Beriicksich- 
tigung der in der stadt Padua bestehenden Einrichtungen. 
In Zeit. f. Schulges., vol. 17, 1902, p. 605 ff. See Bibliog. 
Sec. VIII. 

(Account of the first critical analysis ever made of 
the food values of the meals served at school. Marks 
the beginning of an important kind of inrviry.) 



286 BIBLIOGRAPHY 

VII. Malnutrition 

ITS CAUSES, SYMPTOMS, RESULTS AND CLASSI- 
FICATION 

Badger, George, S.C., M.D. : Malnutrition in School Children. 
Proceedings of the Sixth Congress of the American 
School Hygiene Association, Springfield, Mass., 1912. 
(Recommended for the conducting of special classes 
for acute cases of malnutrition, the enumeration of 
causes, with stress on lack of sleep and bad food 
habits.) 

Bray, Reginald: Malnutrition and the School Meal. In his 
"The Town Child," London, T. Fisher Unwin, 1907, 
pp. 106-117. 

Bean, Homer C. : Starvation and Mental Development. In 
The Psychological Clinic, May, 1910, p. 78. 

(The study of the results, psychological and physical, 
of starvation, during the first six years of life. The boy, 
sixteen years old at the time, had not acquired some of 
the most fundamental neuro-muscular co-ordinations.) 

Beeley, Dr. : Report of the School Medical Officer of East 
Sussex (England), 1910. 

(Relation of enlarged glands to enlarged tonsils, 
dental caries and defective nutrition.) 

Dr. Burgerstein, Leo, and Netolitzky, Dr. August: 
Handbuch der Schulhygiene, pp. 207-210. Section on 
Abspeisung. 

(Account of School Lunch Movement in different 
countries, with stress on administrative requirements.) 

Camerer, Wilhelm : Ernahrung des Kindes. In Das Buch 
vom Kinde., pp. 48-50, Leipsig, 1907. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 287 

Chate, Dr. : Report of School Medical Officer of Middlesex 
(England), 1910. 

(Special investigation of the causes of defective nu- 
trition.) 

Cornell, Walter S., M.D. : Health and Medical Inspection 
of School Children. F. S. Davis Co., Philadelphia, 1912. 
(Chapter on Nutrition, pp. 479-498, and section on 
School Feeding, pp. 100-114.) 

Crowley, Ralph E. (Medical Dept. of Board of Education, 
Great Britain) : (a) The Hygiene of School Life. 
London. Methuen & Co., 36 Essex Street, W. C. 1910. 

(General treatment of nutrition of child, p. 12 ff. 
Chapter on the Provision of School Meals. This chap- 
ter represents the author's conclusions in regard to 
the subject, reached after several years of practical ex- 
perience in organizing meals in Bradford.) 
(b) Report by the Medical Superintendent. (In conjunction 
with Superintendent of Domestic Subjects, Marian E. 
Cuff.) On a course of meals given to Necessitous Chil- 
dren from April to July, 1907. Published by city of 
Bradford Education Committee, Bradford, England, 
Sept., 1907. (Out of print.) 

(This is an account of an experiment to determine the 
effect of food alone on the health and growth of school 
children. It is notable in being the first experiment 
where proper precautions were taken to isolate the 
factor of food, and to have control records kept. The 
original report is out of print, but a summary of its con- 
clusions and the chart in the original are given in 
" Progress," April, 1908. See Bibliog. sec. VIII. 



288 BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Gastpar, Dr. (of Stuttgart) : Die Beurteilung des Ernahr- 
ungszustandes der Schulkinder. Zeit. of Schulges., xxi. 
Jahr. 1908. 689-702. 

(The correlation of thirteen diseases found in 8000 
school children, with their nutritional condition. Four 
times as many cases of disease are found among the 
badly nourished as among the well nourished. 6 tables. 
Practical method of classifying nutrition. A remarkable 
and highly significant piece of work, and the first of 
its kind.) 

Hastings, Dr. W. W. : Manual of Physical Measurements. 
Springfield, Mass., 1902. 

(Gives standard tables of weights and measurements 
for different ages, with methods of registering same.) 

Hoag, E. B. : The Health Index of Children. San Francisco, 
Whitaker & Ray-Wiggin Co., 1910. 

Hogarth, A. H., M.D. : Medical Inspection of Schools. 
London. Henry Fronde. Oxford University Press. 
1909. 

(Short statement of Koppe's scheme of classifying 
nutrition, pp. 157-158.) 

Holt, Emmet L., M.D. : 1. The Diseases of Infancy and 
Childhood. 2. The Care and Feeding of Children. A 
catechism for the use of mothers and children's nurses. 
Fourth edition revised and enlarged. New York and 
London, D. Appleton & Co., 1907. 192 pages. 

Kelynack, T. N., M.D. : Medical Examination of Schools and 
Scholars. London. Published by P. S. King & Son, 
Orchard House, Westminster, S. W., 1910. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 289 

Knopf, S. A., M.D. : The Duties of the School Teacher in 
the Combat of Tuberculosis as a Disease of the Masses. 
Pp. 21-22. A special study of the dietaries of thirty-four 
families, all having undernourished children. 

Mackenzie, W. Leslie, M.D. : The Medical Inspection of 
School Children. Edinburgh and Glasgow. William 
Hodge & Co., 1904. 

(Excellent summary of the effects of food in racial 
selection and the relation of nutrition to growth. Pp. 
196-231 include tables of height and weight. Subject 
treated practically as aid to medical inspection.) 

Mendel, Lafayette Benedict: (a) Some Features of Nutri- 
tion During Growth. Jour, of Home Economics, Vol. 
Ill, June, 191 1. 

(A helpful discussion of the peculiar needs of the 
growing body.) 

(b) Childhood and Growth: a paper read Oct. 6, 1905, before 
the New Haven Mothers' Club, with an introduction by 
Horace Fletcher. New York, the F. A. Stokes Company, 
1906, 54 pages. 

Oppenheim, Nathan: The Care of the Child in Health. 
New York and London, The Macmillan Company, 1900, 
vii, 308 pages. 

Sill, Dr. E. Mather: (a) A Study of Malnutrition in the 
School Child. In the Jour. Amer. Med. Assoc, vol. Hi, 
No. 25. 

(A study of causes. The home conditions, meals, etc., 

of 310 New York children suffering from malnutrition.) 

(b) Dietary Studies of Undernourished School Children 

in New York City. Jour. Amer. Med. Assoc, Nov. 26, 

1910, p. 1886. 

19 



290 BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Taylor, Charles Keen: The Psychological Clinic, April, 
1912. 

(Describes the result of comparing the school progress 
and conduct marks of children drinking coffee and those 
not drinking coffee. Two tables.) 

Wood, Thomas Denison : Health and Education. The Ninth 
Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of 
Education, Part 1. Published by the University of 
Chicago Press, Chicago, 111., 1910. Net $0.75, postpaid 
$0.80. 

(Gives tables of standard weights and heights of 
American children at different ages and based on meas- 
urements during ten years, of boys and girls in Horace 
Mann School, New York. These compared with and 
checked up by work of Hastings and Bowditch.) 

VIII. Periodicals 

Archiv fur Volkswohlfahrt: Deutscher Verlag fur Volks- 
wohlfahrt. G. m. b. h., Berlin, W. Nollensdorfstrasse, 30. 

The British Medical Journal, London: (The management 
of this journal has taken an active interest in School 
Feeding since it started in Great Britain, and has pub- 
lished frequent articles on the subject.) 

The Child: Published monthly by John Bale Sons & 
Danielsson, Ltd. $0.50 per copy, $5.25 a year. 83-91 
Great Tichfield Street, Oxford Street, London, W. 

Concordia: Zeitschrift der Zentralstelle fur Volkswohlfahrt. 
Berlin, S. W., 11 Dessauerstrasse. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 291 

Internationales Archiv fur Schulhygiene : Quarterly publica- 
tion by Otto Gmelin, Munich, Liebherrstrasse 8. Organ 
of the permanent committee of the International Con- 
gresses on School Hygiene and of the International 
Society for School Hygiene. Collaborating editors and 
publishers, Dr. Albert Matthieu, Paris; Sir Lauder- 
Brunton, M.D., London; Dr. Med. Axel Johannesen, 
Christiania; Dr. Med. et phil. Herman Griesbach, Muhl- 
hausen, Basel. 

The Journal of Home Economics: Published bi-monthly by 
the American Home Economics Association. $0.40 per 
copy, $2.00 a year. Roland Park Branch, Baltimore, Md. 

The Lancet: London, 423-424, Strand. (Frequent discussions 
on subject from medical standpoint.) 

La Medicine Scolaire: Bulletin de la Societe des Medicins 
Inspecteurs des ficoles. Paris, Charles Delagrave, 15 Rue 
Soufflot. 

Progress: Organ of the British Institute of Social Service, 
11 Southampton Row, London, W. C. Quarterly. Per 
annum 2s. 6d. (An English " Survey.") 

Second International Congress on School Hygiene (see be- 
low) : London, 1907, Royal Sanitary Institute, London, 
1908, 3 vols. 

(Considerable discussion of School Feeding.) 

School Hygiene: Published monthly by the School Hygiene 
Publication Co., Ltd. Price 6d. net per copy, 7s. 6d. a 
year. 2 Charlotte Street, London, W. 

Der Schularzt (supplementary publication) : Organ of the 
School Medical Inspectors of Germany. Published and 
edited by the same people as Zeit. f. Schulges. ( See below.) 



292 BIBLIOGRAPHY 

(Treats subjects of school hygiene from a definitely 
technical standpoint.) 

The Survey: A journal of constructive philanthropy, pub- 
lished by the Charity Organization Society of the City 
of New York, 105 E. 22d Street, New York, and 35 
Dearborn Street, Chicago. Price $2.00 a year. 

Zeitschrift fur SchulgesundheitspHege • Edited by Dr. 
Stephani, Mannheim, pub. Leopold Voss, Hamburg. 
Monthly, annually, sub. 12 marks. 

IX. Switzerland 

Erismann, Dr. F. (Stadtrat, Zurich, Director of Medical 
Inspection) : Ernahrung und Kleidung diirf tiger Schul- 
kinder. 36 pages. In Jahrb. der Schweiz. Gesellschaft 
fur Schulgesundheitspflege. IX Jahr., 1908, Zurich. 

(Account of school feeding in Switzerland, with 
critical analysis of food values of meals in Zurich and 
Basle. The only general account of the present Swiss 
system printed.) 

1889, Switzerland : Zeit. f. Schulges., Vol. II, 1889, pp. 54 and 
90-91. 

(Enumeration and description of societies for school 
feeding then existing.) 

X. United States 

Anderson, Alma: Hot Lunches for the Country School. 
School Education, 31 : 18, March, 1912. 

Anderson, Elizabeth N. : " After Bread — Education." 
Teacher, 11:9-11, Jan., 1907. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 293 

Ayres, Leonard P. : Open Air Schools, 1910, New York, 
Doubleday & Page, Chapter VI. 

(Describes feeding in Open Air Schools.) 

Bonnell, Henry H. : First Annual Report of the School 
Lunch Committee of the Home and School League. 
Philadelphia, December, 191 1. 

(Account of lunches in Philadelphia schools, with 
particular reference to experimental work and study of 
home conditions. 7 tables.) 

Boughton, Alice C. : (a) Administration of School Lunches, 
Psychological Clinic, April, 1912. 

(Problems of administration and how they are being 
met in Philadelphia.) 

(b) Penny Luncheons. Psychological Clinic, Jan. 15, 1911. 

(Plan of work under auspices of Home and School 
League.) 

(c) Report of the Penny Lunches Served in the Starr Centre 
Association, Philadelphia. In The Journal of Home 
Economics, April, 1910. 

(d) School Luncheons, Jour, of Home Economics, vol. iii, 
No. 1, Feb., 191 1. 

Bryant, Louise Stevens: (a) The Feeding of School Chil- 
dren, Dietetic and Hygienic Gazette, Sept., 1910, vol. xxvi, 
No. 9, pp. 527-536. 

(Summary of history, detailed description of Brad- 
ford system, correlation of malnutrition with other 
physical defects, and mental defects. Two charts.) 

(b) School Feeding in Europe. Journal of Home Economics, 
April, 1910, pp. I49-I59- 



294 BIBLIOGRAPHY 

(A summary of the present condition of school feeding 
in France, England, Germany, Italy and other European 
countries.) 
(c) The School Feeding Movement. Psychological Ginic, 
April, 1912. 

(General historical summary of work abroad, together 
with special investigations into underfeeding among 
American school children. Four tables.) 

Bull, Mary L. : Domestic Science in Rural Schools. 
Minnesota Farmers' Library, Vol. II, No. 7, Univ. of 
Minn., Extension Div. 

(Suggestions for warm lunches in rural schools, with 
simple recipes.) 

Burnham, Wm. H. : Food and Feeding. Cyclopedia of 
Education, Vol. II, p. 627-630. New York, Macmillan, 
1911. 

(Sections on Nutrition, School Lunches in America and 
England, careful argument for School Lunch as part 
of school life and equipment. Bibliography.) 

Chapin, Robert Cort. : The Standard of Living Among 
Workingmen's Families in New York City. Published 
by the Russell Sage Foundation. New York, Charities 
Publication Committee, 1909. 

(The factor of food is treated prominently. Estimates 
are given of the percentages of " underfed families " in 
New York City, grouped according to the income. Under- 
feeding exists in 76 per cent, of the cases where the 
family income lies between $400 and $699 and is found 
to lessen as the incomes rise, until only 9 per cent, of 
the families receiving $900 to $1099 a year are underfed, 
and disappears with the income of $1100 and over.) 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 295 

Chicago Board of Education : Chicago Public Schools : 
Reports on Underfed Children. Chicago, 1908, 23 pages. 

Curran, Margaret Craig: Warm Lunches in Country- 
Schools. Northwest Journal of Education, 23 : 161-168, 
December, 1911. 

Devine, Edward Thomas : (a) Feeding the School Children 
in New York. Charities and the Commons, 20 : 381-382, 
June 20, 1908. 

(b) Underfed Child in the Schools. Charities and the Com- 
mons, 20 : 413-416, June 27, 1908. 

Dunbar, O. H. : Three-cent Luncheons for School Children. 
Outlook, Jan. 7, 191 1, vol. xlvii, pp. 34-37. 
(Account of New York work to date.) 

Farrell, Elizabeth : School Lunches in the Special Classes 
of the Public Schools — A Suggestive Experiment. 
Charities, 13:560^-571, March 11, 1905. 

Garber, John E. : Annals of Educational Progress, Phila., 
1911. 

(Section on School Lunches.) 

Hamilton, James H. : (a) The School Children's Lunch 
Room. In Charities and Commons, 20, 1908, No. 12, 
pp. 400-402. 

(b) The Heritage of the Hungry. Compulsory School 
Attendance and the Underfed Child. 

(Reader Magazine, New York, 6:365-373, Sept., 1905.) 

Hollopeter, Dr. W. C. : The School Child's Breakfast. In 
the Journal of the American Medical Association, vol. 
liii, No. 21, Nov., 1909, p. 1727. 



296 BIBLIOGRAPHY 

(Frequency of underfeeding reported in Great Britain. 
Breakfastless children in this country. Poverty the real 
cause only in small proportion. Real cause, the un- 
hygienic condition of the home that must be remedied.) 

Hunter, Robert : The Child. In his " Poverty," New York. 
The Macmillan Company, 1904, pp. 190-260. 

Kittredge, Mabel H. : Experiments with School Lunches in 
New York City. In the Journal of Home Economics, 
April, 1910. 

Mayer, M. J.: Vital Question of School Lunches. Review 
of Reviews, vol. xliii, 455~459» April, 191 1, 

Mowry, Mrs. D. : Penny Lunches in Milwaukee Public 
Schools. American City, vol. iv, 283-288, June, 1911. 

Nearing, Scott : Underfed School Children, in his " Social 
Adjustment," Philadelphia, 1911. 

Northend, M. H. : Children's Luncheons. Illustrated. 
Harper's Bazar, New York, Jan., 1911. 

Perkins, Frances : Some Facts Concerning Undernourished 
Children. The Survey, vol. xxv, pp. 68-72. 

(Home conditions of several hundred underfed school 
children in New York City.) 

Phillips, Walter L. : School Lunches at Lansdowne, Pa. 
School Progress, April, 1911. 

(An account of lunches in a consolidated school where 
75 per cent, of the pupils cannot go home at noon.) 

Richards, Ellen H., and Talbot M. : Food as a Factor in 
Student Life, Chicago, 1894. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 297 

Rose, Mary Schwartz: The School Dietitian. The Psycho- 
logical Clinic, April, 1912. 

(Requisites for the new profession of School Dietetics.) 

Spargo, John: The Problem of the Underfed Children in 
Our Public Schools. Independent, 58, 1060-1063, May 11, 
1905. 

Superintendents' Reports: New York, Buffalo, Cleveland, 
Rochester, St. Louis, Philadelphia, Houston, Chicago, 
Cincinnati, etc. 

Taylor, Charles Keen: The Moral Training of Children. 
Philadelphia, 1912. 

(Section on The School Lunch.) 

Torrey, Emmeline E. : Penny Lunch Movement. Good 
Housekeeping, 52, 242-244, 1911. 

(Illustrated. Describes lunches in Boston Schools.) 

White, M. L. : A Study of the Undernourished School 
Children of Baltimore. In The Journal of Home 
Economics, April, 1910. 

Wile, Ira S. : School Lunches. Journal of Home Economics. 
Vol. ii, No. 2, pp. 162-169, Roland Park, Baltimore, Md. 
(The need of the lunch for elementary pupils. Ex- 
tent and causes of malnutrition in the United States. 
Educative value of lunches. Food values. Variation in 
diet imposed by race and religion.) . 

Worcester, Wood F. and Daisy W. : Woman and Child 
Wage-Earners in the United States. In 19 volumes. 

(Vol. XVI. Family Budgets of Typical Cotton Mill 
Workers. Extensive accounts and analyses of food con- 
ditions, expenditures, food values, etc.) 



APPENDICES 



APPENDIX A 

Education (Provision of Meals) Act, 1906 

CHAPTER 57 

An Act to make provision for Meals for Children attending 
Public Elementary Schools in England and Wales. 

[21st December, 1906.] 

Be it enacted by the King's Most Excellent Majesty, by 
and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and 
Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament 
assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows : — 

Power of Local Education Authority to Aid School Canteen 
Committees in the Provision of Meals for Children 

1. A Local Education Authority under Part III of the 
Education Act, 1902, may take such steps as they think fit for 
the provision of meals for children in attendance at any 
public elementary school in their area, and for that purpose — 

(a) may associate with themselves any committee on 

which the authority are represented, who will 
undertake to provide food for those children (in 
this Act called a " school canteen committee") ; and 

(b) may aid that committee by furnishing such land, 

buildings, furniture, and apparatus, and such 
officers and servants as may be necessary for the 
organisation, preparation, and service of such 
meals ; 

299 



300 APPENDIX 

but, save as hereinafter provided, the authority shall not 
incur any expense in respect of the purchase of food to be 
supplied at such meals. 

Recovery of the Cost of Meals 

2. — (i) There shall be charged to the parent of every 
child in respect of every meal furnished to that child under 
this Act such an amount as may be determined by the local 
education authority, and, in the event of payment not being 
made by the parent, it shall be the duty of the Authority, 
unless they are satisfied that the parent is unable by reason 
of circumstances other than his own default to pay the 
amount, to require the payment of that amount from that 
parent, and any such amount may be recovered summarily 
as a civil debt. 

(2) The Local Education Authority shall pay over to the 
school canteen committee so much of any money paid to them 
by, or recovered from, any parent as may be determined by 
the authority to represent the cost of the food furnished by 
the committee to the child of that parent, less a reasonable 
deduction in respect of the expenses of recovering the same. 

Power of Local Education Authority to Defray the Cost of 
Food in Certain Cases 

3. Where the Local Education Authority resolve that any 
of the children attending an elementary school within their 
area are unable by reason of lack of food to take full ad- 
vantage of the education provided for them, and have ascer- 
tained that funds other than public funds are not available 
or are insufficient in amount to defray the cost of food fur- 
nished in meals under this Act, they may apply to the Board 



APPENDIX 301 

of Education, and that Board may authorise them to spend 
out of the rates such sum as will meet the cost of the provision 
of such food, provided that the total amount expended by a 
Local Education Authority for the purposes of this section 
in any local financial year shall not exceed the amount which 
would be produced by a rate of one halfpenny in the pound 
over the area of the authority, or, where the Authority is a 
County Council (other than the London County Council), 
over the area of the parish or parishes which in the opinion 
of the council are served by the school. 

Provisions as to Disfranchisement 

4. The provision of any meal under this Act to a child 
and the failure on the part of the parent to pay any amount 
demanded under this Act in respect of a meal shall not 
deprive the parent of any franchise, right, or privilege, or 
subject him to any disability. 

Application of Education Acts 

5. — (1) The powers of a Local Education Authority under 
this Act shall be deemed to be powers of that Authority 
under the Education Acts, 1870 to 1903, and the provisions 
of those Acts as to the manner in which the expenses of a 
Local Education Authority are to be charged and defrayed, 
and as to borrowing, and as to the manner in which the 
amount which would be produced by any rate in the pound 
is to be estimated, shall apply to expenses incurred and 
money borrowed under this Act, and to the estimate of the 
produce of any rate in the pound for the purposes of this Act. 

(2) Any expression to which a special meaning is attached 
in the Education Acts, 1870 to 1903, shall have the same 



302 APPENDIX 

meaning in this Act, except that for the purposes of this Act 
the expression "child" shall, notwithstanding anything in 
section forty-eight of the Elementary Education Act, 1876, 
include any child in attendance at a public elementary school. 

Provision as to Teachers 

6. No teacher seeking employment or employed in a public 
elementary school shall be required as part of his duties to 
supervise or assist, or to abstain from supervising or assist- 
ing, in the provision of meals, or in the collection of the cost 

thereof. 

Extent of Act 

7. This Act shall not apply to Scotland. 

Short Title 

8. This Act may be cited as the Education (Provision of 
Meals) Act, 1906. 

APPENDIX B 

Circulars Issued by the Board of Education 

I. 
Circular 552. 

Board of Education, 
Whitehall, London, S. W., 
Sir, January 1st, 1907. 

The Education (Provision of Meals) Act, 1906, which 
came into operation on the 21st day of December, 1906, gives 
to Local Education Authorities, for the first time, statutory 
powers in regard to the important matter of the provision of 
meals for children attending our public elementary schools. 



APPENDIX 303 

It brings those Authorities into recognised relation with the 
voluntary agencies which already exist in many localities for 
providing meals for school children, and gives them power 
to aid such agencies by provision of kitchens, dining-rooms 
and plant, as well as of cooks, servers and other necessary 
officers. It further empowers the Authorities, where sufficient 
funds for the purchase of food from voluntary contributions 
and parents' payments are not forthcoming, to spend money 
from the rates for the provision of food for such meals 
within the limit of a halfpenny rate. 

The Act, which is purely permissive and imposes no duty 
where a Local Education Authority think it unnecessary to 
bring it into operation, is primarily of an educational char- 
acter. Its object is to ensure that children attending public 
elementary schools shall, so far as possible, be no longer 
prevented by insufficiency of suitable food from profiting by 
the education offered in our schools, and it aims at securing 
that for this purpose suitable meals shall be available just 
as much for those whose parents are in a position to pay as 
for those to whom food must be given free of cost. It is 
obvious that the passing of this Act opens up possibilities of 
a most beneficial nature, if its operation is handled with full 
circumspection and on carefully thought-out lines by the 
local authorities and voluntary agencies to whom these great 
responsibilities are entrusted by Parliament; since it 
furnishes unrivalled opportunities to the earnest, yet wise, 
social reformer for mitigating some of the deepest physical 
injuries that beset the children of the rising generation, par- 
ticularly in " slum areas," without necessarily involving (if 
care and thought be exercised in its administration) undue 
intervention by the State in the sphere of parental respon- 



304 APPENDIX 

sibilities or in the duties and influences of any properly- 
ordered home. For those who desire information as to the 
various ways in which this most important and difficult 
problem has in recent years been handled, the Reports of 
the Departmental Committee and the Select Committee lately 
issued as Blue Books, Cd. 2779, price is. 3d. (by post is. 6d.) 
[Evidence, Cd. 2784, price 3s. (by post 3s. 5d)] and H.C. 288, 
price tf/zd. (by post 6dL) [or, including Evidence, price 2s. 
4d. (by post 2s. Sd.)] will be found extremely useful; and 
the Board of Education hope that some preliminary help may, 
perhaps, be afforded by their issue of the following summary 
of the contents of the Act, together with the further observa- 
tions upon a few matters appearing to require special notice, 
which are given below. 

1. The Act is applicable to every County and Borough 
and Urban District Council in England and Wales which is 
an Education Authority under Part III. of the Education 
Act, 1902. 

2. — (a) It is probable that in most places where a Local 
Education Authority decide to make use of 
some of the new powers given them by the 
statute they will find it expedient to act through 
the agency of one of the voluntary Associations 
or Committees which, in so many localities are 
already in existence, have amassed much valuable 
experience, and are doing admirable work in 
the provision of meals for school children. In 
order that the Authority may in these cases 
supplement the work of such a Committee, or 
grant to it any of the forms of aid referred to 
in the first paragraph of this letter, arrange- 



APPENDIX 305 

ments must be made for securing adequate repre- 
sentation of the Authority upon it in accordance 
with the Act (unless that is already provided 
for by the constitution of the Committee or 
Association). This may be done either directly 
by appointing one or more members of the 
Authority to serve on the Committee, or in- 
directly by nominating as representatives of the 
Authority outside persons, some of whom might, 
if desired, be selected from among existing 
members of the Committee. 
(fc) In those cases, on the other hand, where there is 
no sufficient agency already in existence, the 
Local Education Authority may themselves 
establish a Committee or obtain the establish- 
ment of one in any manner which may com- 
mend itself, subject to the requirement as to 
representation of the Authority. 
3. These Committees for the supply of food are henceforth 
to be known as "School Canteen Committees " (Section! 
(a) ) ; and with a School Canteen Committee thus in exist- 
ence, whether directly established by the Local Education 
Authority or having representatives of the Local Education 
Authority upon it, three valuable consequences will follow 
from the adoption of the Act: — 

(i) The Authority will have power to make such pro- 
vision or such supplementary provision as may be 
found necessary, of kitchens, dining-rooms, fur- 
niture, and other plant, and also to pay persons 
to organise, cook and serve the meals. No doubt, 
as heretofore, much of this work will be done 
ao 



306 APPENDIX 

by unpaid helpers — an arrangement which, in the 
case of those who assist in organisation, or man- 
agement, or visiting parents, has many advantages 
if such helpers are of the right type and can 
bring to the work the benefits of regular oppor- 
tunities for keeping in useful touch with the 
children out of school hours, and at their homes, 
(ii) Hitherto the Board of Education have not been 
able to permit inclusion of kitchens and dining- 
rooms in public elementary schools to be built 
with loans charged upon the rates. Henceforth, 
when desired by the Authority, the reasonable 
provision of such adjuncts will be passed by the 
Board in school plans. (Section I (&)). 
(iii) One grave difficulty in the way of the proper 
organisation of school meals has been noticed by 
the Select and Inter-Departmental Committees 
which have dealt with the question of such meals. 
There has been no method by which it could be 
ensured that a parent whose child has had food 
should pay the cost of the meal, when he is well 
able to bear the expense. This difficulty is now 
removed. By Section 2 (1) the Authority are 
directed to make a charge to the parent for every 
meal supplied to his child, and in the event of 
non-payment it becomes their statutory duty, un- 
less they are satisfied that the parent is unable to 
pay by reason of circumstances other than his 
own default, to recover the sum so charged from 
him by summary procedure before the magistrates. 
4. The amount of the charge for a meal is not prescribed 
by the statute, nor is anything laid down as to the mode of 



APPENDIX 307 

payment ; these matters are left to the discretion of those 
responsible for the working of the Act. It is desirable that, 
when parents are in a position to pay it, the Authority 
should fix such a charge as will normally cover, not only the 
cost of the actual food, but also the cost of cooking and 
serving. They will also, probably, do well, wherever pos- 
sible, to insist upon prepayment. Where parents cannot 
pay the full cost, they will often be able to pay part cost. 
For reasons which need not be here stated, it is better that 
they should pay whatever their means permit, rather than 
that meals should be given free of cost. 

5. So far these observations have been confined to the 
ordinary case of a locality where — with or without assistance 
from the Local Education Authority in providing rooms, 
plant and service — the expenses of the School Canteen Com- 
mittee as regards the actual provision of food are defrayed, 
without any recourse to the rates, from such sources as 
parents' payments, voluntary contributions and endowments. 
Under this system there will generally be no difficulty in 
providing, where it is so desired, a school dinner at a 
fixed price in the middle of the day, attended by children 
for whom, by reason of distance from the school or because 
the mother's absence makes a home meal difficult, the parent 
prefers to take advantage of an arrangement similar to that 
now in operation in most secondary day schools. It will 
also, as a rule, be possible to provide a meal free, or at a 
nominal cost, for poorer children during periods of severe 
weather or industrial distress, or to meet individual cases 
of temporary want of employment. 

6. There will remain, however, a few exceptional cases 
where the money available from the sources alluded to above 



308 APPENDIX 

is insufficient to meet the cost of the necessary food. For 
these, provision is made in Section 3 of the Act which em- 
powers a Local Education Authority to apply to the Board 
of Education for sanction to spend money to a limited 
amount out of the rates in the purchase of food. When an 
Authority desire to make use of this power they must 
first pass a resolution that some of the children attending an 
elementary school within their area are unable by reason 
of lack of food to take full advantage of the education 
provided for them, and they must further ascertain that 
funds other than public funds are not available, or are 
insufficient in amount, to defray the cost of food furnished 
in meals provided under the Act. Armed with this resolu- 
tion and information, they must apply to the Board of 
Education for the requisite sanction. Before exercising their 
power under this section, the Board will consider the cir- 
cumstances of the case and the extent of the emergency 
which has to be met, and will also require to know what 
sum the Authority consider to be necessary to meet so much 
of the cost of the provision of food for a stated period, as 
cannot be paid for in any other manner, together with the 
grounds for that view. The Board do not propose to give 
any permanent sanction or even one extending over a period 
of years. They will deal in each case with the particular 
emergency, and their sanction will, as a rule, be limited to 
the raising of a definite sum from the rates. Should such 
sum prove to be insufficient, it will be open to the Authority to 
apply for, and to the Board to sanction, the raising of an addi- 
tional sum, and so on from time to time as occasion may re- 
quire, subject always to the condition that the amounts raised 
from the rates for this purpose in the area of the Authority in 



APPENDIX 309 

any single year shall never exceed the produce of a half- 
penny rate. 

7. In London and in the areas under Local Education 
Authorities for County Boroughs, Boroughs and Urban 
Districts the limit will be found by ascertaining the produce 
of a halfpenny rate for the whole area, but for areas under 
County Councils the mode of calculation will be different ; 
here the halfpenny rate will be calculated over the area of 
the parish or parishes which, in the opinion of the Council, 
are served by the school (Section 3). It should be noted, 
however, that, though this calculation will give the limit of 
the money which may be raised, the money will not be 
actually raised over the area mentioned. Thus, where a 
halfpenny rate over the parish or parishes served by the 
school in connection with which a meal is to be provided 
produces, say, 20/., that amount will be actually raised on 
the whole elementary education area of the County Council 
and not solely from the particular parish or parishes 
(Section 5 (1)). 

8. For the general working of the provisions of the Act 
by the Local Authorities and the School Canteen Com- 
mittees, the Board of Education do not propose to issue any 
Regulations, but to leave them full discretion, within the 
statutory conditions, for dealing with the necessarily varied 
circumstances of the different areas, or of different schools 
within any one area, in the manner best suited thereto. There 
remain, however, a few points, in addition to those named 
above, to which the Board think it right to call attention in 
this Circular. 

9. First, it has been found that there has been a tendency 
in some of the places where the work of providing school 
meals has already been in operation, to require teachers to 



310 APPENDIX 

take part in the management and supervision of school meals 
as part of their ordinary duties. The Board, like the Com- 
mittees which have reported on this matter, recognise fully 
the admirable work which has been done in this direction by 
teachers all through the country. They consider, however, 
that there is a danger that too much of the teacher's time 
and energy may be taken up in this serving of tables, and 
they hold that, while teachers should not be forbidden to 
take part in work which is to them of absorbing interest, 
their help should be used as sparingly as possible and that 
in no case should they be required to take any part at all. 
The Act accordingly contains the following special provision 
on this matter : — 

" No teacher seeking employment or employed in a public 
elementary school shall be required as part of his duties to 
supervise or assist, or to abstain from supervising or assist- 
ing, in the provision of meals, or in the collection of the 
cost thereof (Section 6)." 

10. Next, the Board concur also with the various Com- 
mittees in holding that it is undesirable that meals should 
be served in rooms habitually used for teaching purposes. 
The first use for school-rooms and class-rooms is for teach- 
ing. Nothing, therefore, should be done in them to inter- 
fere with their proper ventilation before and after school 
meetings, or to cause disorder and uncleanliness. At the 
same time, the Board recognise that in some cases meals can 
be served in rooms used for teaching without detriment to 
such use, and that circumstances may arise where these are 
the only rooms available. 

11. It will be observed that the Act does not in any way 
prescribe the time at which the meal should be served. 
Evidence is in the possession of the Board showing that 



APPENDIX 311 

while, perhaps, a midday dinner is the meal which usually 
meets with most favour from the existing voluntary agencies, 
there are many which for good reasons consider that break- 
fast is preferable. Again, there is an opinion prevalent in 
many quarters that a school meal may in certain schools 
advantageously take the form of milk, which may be served 
either at the opening of morning school or in the course of 
the morning at the recreation interval. 

12. The Act contains no specific reference to the Boards 
of Guardians, but in a well-organised system which attempts 
to provide free or cheap meals for destitute children, it is 
obvious that touch must be kept with the Guardians, and in- 
formation in their possession or at their disposal must be 
used. As a rule it would be desirable that there should be 
one or more Guardians on the School Canteen Committee. 
Where there is in the locality a branch of the Society for 
the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, the help of that 
Society may also T)e enlisted with great advantage, and the 
same remark applies to other persons and agencies whose 
work brings them into intimate relation with the life and 
needs of the children at our elementary schools and their 
parents, such as district visitors, health visitors, and the like. 

13. Lastly, when a system of medical inspection of school 
children such as already exists under several Local Educa- 
tion Authorities has been established, the School Canteen 
Committee, so far as its operations are concerned with under- 
fed, ill-nourished or destitute children, should work in 
intimate connection with the school medical officer. 

I have the honour to be, 
Sir, 
Your obedient Servant, 

Robert L. Morant. 
To the Local Education Authority. 



312 APPENDIX 

APPENDIX C 

Form Used by the City of Bradford Education Committee 
in Order to Ascertain the Circumstances of the 
Families of the Children for Whom Application is 
Made for the Provision of Meals. 

city of bradford education committee 

Provision of Meals Act, 1906 

Name of Child or Children 



School 



Address 



Name of Father Age Occupation, 

Employer , 

Name of Mother Age. .. .Occupation, 

Employer , 



Name of each other member of family, age and occupation 



Weekly wages when full time £. . . .s d, 

Average income for last four weeks £. . . .s d. 

Total income 

Deduct rent 

Net income 



APPENDIX 313 



If Father out of work, how long so? , 

If Father sick, how long so, and by whom attended? 



If in receipt of Relief, state amount. 
Character of Parent 



Remarks, especially as to any other sources of income or 
expenditure, e.g., Doctor's Bills, Insurance, etc 



Date Visitor 

At the expiration of each month an entry as to change of 
circumstances should be made below : 



Date Date Date Date Date, 

Date Date Date Date Date, 

Submitted to Committee on RESULT 



APPENDIX D 

Regulations for the School Breakfasts in Stuttgart 

i. In accordance with an order of the City Council a 
warm breakfast is provided for school children at one centre 
in every public school district, which shall be served either 
free or at cost, as follows : 



314 APPENDIX 

2. Only those children may participate in the breakfasts 
who are designated after application to the special commis- 
sion. Only those can receive a meal free whose necessity 
is assured. 

3. The application must be made by the parents or 
guardians of the child through a teacher and must include 
answers to certain questions, such as whether the meal is 
desired at cost or free; what the daily income of the family 
is and how great the number of children under 16. If 
the information given is satisfactory a further investigation 
is not necessary. For this purpose the class teacher will give 
to each child a questionnaire in a closed envelope which will 
include a return slip. The teacher must add to this in- 
formation a statement as to the physical condition of the 
children and any points omitted by the parents. This card 
is then forwarded to the commission after passing through 
the hands of the school superintendent. In so far as the 
information given is unsatisfactory or insufficient the com- 
mission may supplement it by an investigation by charity 
officers, who in these instances are not to be regarded as 
acting under the Poor Law, but as special school officers. 
These inquiry officers are held responsible for the most 
careful investigations possible and must report these to the 
commission. A record of each case, including its final dis- 
position, must be kept. 

4. The permits for free or paid meals are valid for any 
length of time which the City Council may decide. During 
this time new permits are issued only to those paying and to 
children who may have newly entered the school. Only in 
very special cases may free permits be given to other chil- 



APPENDIX 315 

dren during this time. Permits given in these latter cases 
begin with the first school day of the next week. 

5. Little booklets containing coupons are issued to the 
children. Each coupon entitles a child to a breakfast. The 
coupons are to be given every Saturday morning for the 
coming week. The class teacher is to have charge of both 
the free permits and the coupons that are paid for. 45 pf. 
(11 cents) is charged for the book of 6 coupons. This 
coupon is good only in the feeding centre in the district 
where the child belongs and is not to be transferred to 
another child. It is not permitted to offer more than one 
coupon in one day. 

6. The coupons must be gotten by the class teacher or 
principal every month according to the apparent number who 
will need them. An account is to be kept by the teacher or 
principal of every child receiving these coupons with the 
date. The amounts received for the bought coupons are to 
be reckoned up the first of every month. The free coupons 
are to have as a distinguishing mark a heavy line under the 
first few words, but this mark is to remain absolutely un- 
known to the children. 

7. In case a child is removed from one school district to 
another the head teacher will transfer his name to the new 
school lists, indicating whether or not he is to have coupons 
and of what sort. If he moves out of Greater Stuttgart 
the coupons that have not been used shall be returned to the 
class teacher. The money shall be refunded on the coupons 
that have been paid for. These returned coupons are to be 
delivered to the central school authority every month. 

8. Every Saturday the daily amount of milk and bread for 



316 APPENDIX 

the various feeding centres shall be made out for the coming 
week according to the number of children who are enrolled 
to receive them. In the event of the school being closed for 
extraordinary reasons such as vacations given on account 
of conferences, etc., or epidemics of sickness, the principal 
of each school shall notify the central school authorities so 
that the day's supply of rations may be changed in accordance. 

9. The director in each feeding centre must be responsible 
for having the milk and bread ready to be served, at the 
earliest one hour, at the latest three-quarters of an hour 
before the beginning of school. The director of the feeding 
centre must twice each month, on the 15th, and on the last 
day, forward to the school authorities an account of the 
amount of food that he receives each da}*-. He must also 
give a daily receipt to the contractor who delivers the goods. 

10. The cans and baskets in which the milk and bread 
are delivered must remain at the feeding centre during 
breakfast. The milk must be kept so that it does not get 
cold before serving. Any bread and milk that may remain 
is to be given back to the contractors. An account is to be 
kept of this and the cost deducted and placed on credit. 

11. Any delay in the delivery of the food must be reported 
at once to the school authorities. Likewise any other failure 
to carry out orders, such as food being delivered too early 
or too late, not enough being delivered, milk not being 
sufficiently warm, and so forth, is to be reported to the 
contractor at once, by telephone if possible, so that no delay 
shall be caused. Any broken contracts are to be reported at 
once to the school authorities. 

12. The person in charge of each feeding centre is held 



APPENDIX 317 

responsible for having the proper utensils and furniture 
ready each morning and for removing and cleaning them 
after breakfast. 

13. The breakfast is to be served during the half hour 
before the beginning of the morning session, the hour of 
which varies as follows : The spring and the summer vaca- 
tion at 7 o'clock; after the vacation till the 15th of 
November at 8 o'clock; from November 16th to February 
14th at 8.30; from February 15 to the end of the school 
year at 8 o'clock. 

Each child shall receive on presenting its coupon one- 
quarter of a liter of milk and a roll. The milk must 
be kept in the warm cans until immediately before serving 
and put into serving pitchers only at the last minute. The 
coupons received must be placed each day in special numbered 
and dated envelopes ready to forward twice a month to the 
school authorities. 

14. Immediately after breakfast all the dishes and other 
utensils used at breakfast are to be washed in hot water 
and rinsed with cold, and the furniture in the room cleaned. 
The manager will be held responsible for the utmost clean- 
liness in all details of service. 

15. A special place must be provided for the storage of 
utensils. 

16. The children must not remain in the centre any 
longer than is necessary to eat their breakfast. They must 
maintain order, be quiet and follow the directions of the 
person in charge. Children who do not obey may have their 
privilege withheld by the commission for a longer or a 
shorter time. 



318 APPENDIX 

17. If teachers are present at the breakfast they shall 
have the supervision, otherwise the house master of the 
school, or in case he is not present the manager shall be 
held responsible for keeping order during breakfast. It is 
preferable to have the supervision done by a teacher. Where 
there are several centres for one district the house master, 
if he himself is not in charge of one centre shall go about 
and inspect each centre in turn. 



APPENDIX E 

Menus of seventeen dinners served on alternate days in 
the schools of the city of Bradford, England. The materials, 
the amount, the number of Protein and Fat grams and the 
cost, wholesale and retail, is given in each case. 

Dinner No. I. 

Green Pea and Vegetable Soup (clear) ; Boiled Jam Roly-Poly. 

Material Quantity £*g <**,, 

Peas 3 oz. 324 12 

Carrot 1% oz. 3 2 

Turnip iK oz. 6 1 

Onion iK oz. 6 1 

Bread iM oz. 60 9 

Flour iVi oz. 75 6 

Nutter Suet % oz. 49 196 

Jam % oz. 1 ... 

Wholesale Price — 2 cts. 524 227 

Retail ! — 2.5 cts. (34 grams) (15 grams) 



APPENDIX 



319 



Dinner No. II. 

Brown Haricot Soup, Dumplings; Baked Jam Roll. 

Material Quantity gg*> JJj*,, 

Beans i% oz. 133 13 

Carrot % oz. 1 1 

Onion 1 oz. 9 2 

Flour % oz. 36 3 

Nutter Suet % oz. 22 88 

Milk Powder K oz. 81 2 

Bread iK oz. 60 9 

Flour 1% oz. 75 6 

Margarine % oz. 4 279 

Jam K oz. 1 ... 

Wholesale Price — 2 cts. 422 403 

Retail " — 2.3 cts. (27 grams) (26 grams) 

Dinner No. III. 

Lentil Soup ; Ginger Pudding and Sweet Sauce. 

Material Quantity Protein Fat 

Lentils 3 oz. 305 26 

Carrot 1 oz. 2 1 

Turnip 1 oz. 4 1 

Onion 1 oz. 6 1 

Bread iK oz. 60 9 

Flour 1% oz. 59 5 

Bread Crumbs ^ oz. 20 3 

Nutter Suet % oz. 49 196 

Golden Syrup 1 oz. 

Ginger }{ 6 oz. 

Baking Powder # 6 oz. 

Milk K2OZ. 24 30 

Margarine % oz. . . 62 

Sugar I& oz. 

Wholesale Price — 2.45 cts. 529 334 
Retail " — 3.27 cts. (34 grams) (22 grams) 



320 APPENDIX 

Dinner No. IV. 

Savory Batter, Gravy and Beans; Rice and Currants. 

Material Quantity Protein Fat 

Meat i oz. 81 89 

Milk % oz. 35 44 

Flour 1 oz. 50 4 

Egg % oz. 23 18 

Beans. , iM oz. 150 15 

Butter K oz. ... 46 

Bread i^ oz. 60 9 

Milk % pint . 35 44 

Rice H oz. 17 

Sugar Ya oz. 

Currants and Sultanas K oz. 2 2 

Wholesale Price — 2.5 cts. 453 191 

Retail " — 3.1 cts. (29 grams) (12 grams) 

Dinner No. V. 

Baked Lentil Savory, Green Peas and Bean Gravy; Milk 
Pudding and Stewed Fruit. 

Material Quantity Protein Pat 

Lentils % oz. 74 6 

Rice % oz. 8 

Potato K oz. 4 

Bread Crumbs M oz. 20 3 

Onion % oz. 4 

Egg K20Z. 8 4 

Margarine % oz. ... 62 

Peas. , 1% oz. 162 6 

Beans % oz. 50 5 

Bread 1% oz. 60 9 

Milk Yi pint. 70 88 

Rice % oz. 17 

Fruit 3 oz. 4 

Sugar % oz. 

Wholesale Price^ — 2.5 cts. 481 185 

Retail " — 3.4 cts. (31 grams) (12 grams) 



APPENDIX 321 

Dinner No. VI. 

Yorkshire Cheese Pudding, Peas and Bean Gravy; Buttered 
Rice and Sugar. 

Material Quantity Protein Fat 

Milk % pint. 35 44 

Flour 1 oz. 50 4 

Egg % oz. 23 18 

Cheese 1 oz. 122 162 

Peas iH oz. 162 6 

Beans % oz. 50 5 

Bread 1% oz. 60 9 

Rice % oz. 25 

Sugar K oz. 

Margarine K oz. 1 93 

Wholesale Price — 2.54 cts. 528 341 
Retail " — 3 cts. (34 grams) (22 grams) 

Dinner No. VII. 

Cornish Pie (vegetarian), Green Peas and Bean Gravy; Blanc- 
mange and Jam. 

Material Quantity Protein Fat 

Potato 2% OZ. 20 I 

Apple 1 oz. 1 1 

Onion 2 oz. 12 2 

Lentils % oz. 74 6 

Flour 1% oz. 87 7 

Margarine % oz. 3 279 

Peas 1% oz. 162 6 

Beans K oz. 50 5 

Bread iK oz. 60 9 

Milk J6 pint. 46 58 

Cornflour ^ oz. 8 1 

Sugar % oz. 

Jam ^ oz. 1 

Wholesale Price^ — 2.62 cts. 524 375 
Retail " — 3.29 cts. (34 grams) (24 grams) 
21 



322 APPENDIX 

Dinner No. VIII. 

Cheese and Lentil Savory, Bean Gravy; Milk Pudding and 
Fruit. 

Material Quantity Protein Fat 

Cheese i oz. 122 162 

Lentils % oz. 68 6 

Onion % oz. 3 1 

Bread Crumbs % oz. 13 2 

Margarine % oz. 62 

Beans K oz. 50 4 

Bread 1^ oz. 60 9 

Milk % pint. 70 88 

Rice K oz. 17 

Sugar % oz. 

Fruit 3 oz. 4 

Wholesale Price — 2.71 cts. 407 334 
Retail " — 3.58 cts. (26 grams) (22 grams) 

Dinner No. IX. 

Baked Cheese and Potato Pie, Peas and Bean Gravy; Bread 
and Fruit Pudding. 

Material Quantity Protein Fat 

Cheese 1 oz. 122 162 

Potato 3 oz. 24 i 

Bread Crumbs % oz. 20 3 

Egg % oz. 15 12 

Rice }{ oz. 9 

Margarine % oz. 124 

Peas 1% oz. 162 6 

Beans J A oz. 50 4 

Bread iM oz. 60 9 

Bread 1 oz. 40 6 

Fruit 3 oz. 4 

Sugar K oz. 

Wholesale Price — 2.77 cts. 506 327 
Retail " — 3.59 cts. (33 grams) (2 1 grams) 



APPENDIX 323 
Dinner No. X. 

Meat Hash, Savory Balls and Rice; Stewed Fruit. 

Material Quantity Protein Fat 

Beef 3 oz. 243 26 

Onion 1% oz. 9 2 

Carrot 1 oz. 2 1 

Turnip 1 oz. 4 1 

Flour and Bread Crumbs % oz. 41 5 

Nutter Suet % oz. 16 66 

Rice % oz. 26 1 

Bread iK oz. 60 9 

Fruit 3 oz. 4 

Sugar % oz. 

Wholesale Price — 2.9 cts. 405 11 1 
Retail " — 4.5 cts. (26 grams) (7 grams) 



Dinner No. XI. 

Cottage Pie (Meat with Crust) , Green Peas and Gravy ; Stewed 
Fruit. 

Material Quantity Protein Fat 

Beef 2 oz. 162 17 

Potato 3 oz. 24 1 

Onion 1 oz. 6 1 

Flour 1% oz. 87 7 

Margarine % oz. 3 279 

Peas 1% oz. 162 6 

Bread 1% oz. 60 9 

Fruit 3 oz. 4 

Sugar % oz. 

Wholesale Price — 3 cts. 508 320 

Retail " — 4.27 cts. (33 grams) (2 1 grams) 



324 



APPENDIX 



Dinner No. XII. 

Scotch Barley Broth; Rhubarb Tart. 

Material Quantity 

Beef 2% oz. 

Carrot i oz. 

Turnip i oz. 

Onion , i)& oz. 

Barley % oz. 

Bread iK oz. 

Flour VA oz. 

Margarine % oz. 

Fruit 3 oz. 

Sugar ^ oz. 

Wholesale Price — 2.9 cts. 
Retail " — 4.2 cts. 



Protein 


Fat 


202 


22 


2 


I 


4 


I 


6 


I 


14 


3 


60 


9 


75 


6 


4 


279 


4 




371 


322 


(24 grams) 


(21 grams) 



Dinner No. XIII. 

Fish and Potato Pie, Green Peas, Lemon Sauce; Blancmange 

and Jam. 

Material Quantity- 
Fish 4 oz. 

Potato 5 oz. 

Margarine % oz. 

Flour 

Milk 

Lemon , 

Peas 

Bread 

Cornflour % oz. 

Milk Ye pint. 

Sugar % oz. 

Jam H oz. 



i oz. 
io pint. 



Vi oz. 
4 oz. 



Protein 
66 
48 

10 
14 

162 

60 

8 
46 



Wholesale Price — 3 cts. 
Retail " — 4.46 cts. 



414 



Fat 

5 

2 

74 

1 

18 

6 

9 
1 

58 



174 



(27 grams) (11 grams) 



APPENDIX 325 

Dinner No. XIV. 

Meat and Potato Hash, Beans and Gravy; Milk Pudding and 
Fruit. 

Material Quantity Protein Fat 

Beef 1% oz. 122 13 

Potato 4 oz. 32 1 

Carrot % oz. 

Onions 1% oz. 9 1 

Beans i% oz. 147 12 

Margarine % oz. 46 

Bread 1% oz. 60 9 

Milk K pint. 70 88 

Rice K oz. 17 

Sugar % oz. 

Fruit 3 oz. 4 

Wholesale Price — 3 cts. 461 170 

Retail — 4.35 cts. (30 grams) (11 grams) 

Dinner No. XV. 

Meat Pudding, Cabbage and Gravy; Boiled Rice and Currants. 

Material Quantity Protein Fat 

Meat 2 oz. 162 17 

Carrot 1 oz. 2 1 

Turnip 1 oz. 4 1 

Onion 1% oz. 9 2 

Flour iK oz. 75 6 

Nutter Suet % oz. 49 196 

Cabbage % oz. 

Bread 1% oz. 60 9 

Rice H oz. 17 1 

Currants and Sultanas )i oz. 2 2 

Sugar % oz. 

Milk % pint. 35 44 

Wholesale Price — 3.13 cts. 415 285 

Retail " — 4.30 cts. . (27 grams) (19 grams) 



326 APPENDIX 

Dinner No. XVI. 

Rice and Cheese Savory, Cabbage and Bean Gravy; Whole- 
meal Cake. 

Material Quantity Protein Fat 

Milk % pint. 70 88 

Rice i}£ oz. 52 1 

Cheese 1 oz. 122 162 

Margarine. K oz. 2 186 

Beans K oz. 50 5 

Cabbage % oz. 

Bread iK oz. 60 9 

Wholemeal iK oz. 60 9 

Currants and Sultanas % oz. 8 7 

Sugar % oz. 

Margarine Ke oz. 69 

Wholesale Price — 342 cts. 424 536 
Retail " — 4. 10 cts. (28 grams) (35 grams) 

Dinner No. XVII. 

Shepherd's Pie (Meat and Potato), Gravy; Milk Pudding, 
Stewed Fruit. 

Material Quantity Protein Fat 

Beef 3 oz. 243 26 

Potato 6 oz. 48 3 

Onion 1 oz. 6 1 

Bread iK oz. 60 9 

Rice K oz. 17 

Sugar. % oz. 

Milk Va pint. 70 88 

Fruit 3 oz. 4 

Wholesale Price — 3.49 cts. 448 127 

Retail " — 5. 12 cts. (29 grams) (8 grams) 



APPENDIX 327 

APPENDIX F 

Specimen Recipes of Hot Dishes Served in Philadelphia 
Schools. These Recipes are Kept on File at Each 
Kitchen. 

Cream of Pea Soup 

Four and one-half pounds dried peas; ten tablespoonfuls, 
or one-quarter pound butter; seven quarts milk; one quart 
water (rinse bottles) ; twenty tablespoonfuls or one and one- 
quarter cups flour; salt. (Serves 60. Portion, two-thirds 
of a cup.) 

Soak peas day before. Drain and wash. Put on to cook 
in large quantity of water. Cook until tender, adding salt 
when nearly done. Make white sauce in agate sauce-pan 
(care or will burn). Do not allow to cook directly over fire 
long enough to boil after each addition; but prepare long 
enough ahead to cook in double boiler about three-quarters 
of an hour before adding peas. Drain peas and add to white 
sauce about one-half hour before serving. 

Rice Pudding 

One quart rice ; one quart sugar ; four quarts water ; eight 
quarts milk; four teaspoonfuls salt. (To serve 48. Por- 
tion, two-thirds of a cup.) 

Wash and drain the rice, add with sugar and salt to the 
boiling salted water. Cook directly over the heat ten minutes. 
Heat milk in the double boiler and cook with the rice, etc., 
at least one hour — better two. 

To vary monotony, sprinkle cinnamon or nutmeg over 
the pudding or use one-half pound seedless raisins or one 
dozen dates cut in small pieces. 



828 APPENDIX 

Com Chowder 

Eight cans corn; eight quarts diced potatoes; one-half 
pound salt pork ; salt ; eight onions ; eight quarts milk ; six- 
teen crackers; pepper. (To serve 95. Portion, two-thirds 
of a cup.) 

Put milk and corn on in large double boiler to heat. Put 
water on in which to boil potatoes. They must be cooked in 
relays in order to get ready in time. Try out pork, add 
onions, and brown. Parboil potatoes five minutes. Then add 
to fat and onions with enough boiling water to prevent 
burning. Cook until tender and add the whole to the milk 
and corn. Season. About five minutes before serving, add 
the broken crackers. 

Cocoa 

Three cups cocoa; three cups sugar; four quarts boiling 
water; twelve quarts milk. (To serve 96. Portion, two- 
thirds of a cup.) 

Mix the cocoa and water together and cook directly over 
the heat ten minutes, stirring constantly to prevent scorching. 
Add it to the heated milk in which the sugar has been dis- 
solved and cook one-half hour in the double boiler. Beat 
well before serving. 

Bean Soup 

Four quarts or five and five-eighths pounds beans; one 
pound salt pork (cut in pieces) or three pounds shin bone; 
two small onions; two bunches potherbs; twelve to sixteen 
quarters boiling water; three tablespoonfuls salt; pepper; 
two stalks celery, if cheap. (To serve 72. Portion, three- 
quarters of a cup.) 



APPENDIX 329 

Pick over and thoroughly wash the beans. Soak them in 
cold water over night. Drain and rinse them, then add the 
boiling water, part of which is stock from the meat. Add 
the seasoning and cook until the beans are thoroughly soft. 

First day, soak beans ; second day, start cooking ; third 
day, finish cooking and serve. In schools where the Jewish 
children are very orthodox, substitute butter for meat. 



330 



APPENDIX 



APPENDIX G 

Dietaries for Children of School Age Show- 
ing School Meals as Supplements to 
Other Meals, and Daily Cost 
and Food Value* 

1. Dietary for Child 6 Years .of Age 

Assumed weight, 44 lb. Protein, 50-60 grams ; 1650 Calories 

BREAKFAST 
Oatmeal, Top Milk and Two Teaspoonfuls of Sugar 
Poached Egg-on Toast 
Toast and Butter Glass of Milk 





PENNY LUNCH 








Cup of Milk and Cracker 








DINNER 








Cream of Pea Soup 






Baked Potato 


Breadand Butter 


Creamed Carrots 




SUPPER 






Glass of Milk 


Steamed Rice and Prunes 




Zweibach 


Food 


Amount Protein, crams 


Calories 


Cost 


Oatmeal 


% cup 4.20 


100 


$0,030 


Bread 


4 slices 9.40 


300 


0.017 


Butter 


1 tablespoon 0.1,3 


100 


0.010 


Egg 


1 8.15 


90 


0.030 


Milk 


% qt 24.36 


510 


0.060 


Sugar 


2 tablespoons 0.00 


100 


0.000 


Pea Soup 


% cup 3.86 


100 


0.020 


Potato 


1 medium 1.32 


75 


0.005 


Carrots, Creamed 


H cup 2.57 


100 


0.010 


Rice 


2 tablespoons 2.28 


100 


0.005 


Prunes 


5 0.70 


100 
1675 


0.010 


Totals 


56.97 


$0.1.73 




Nutritive ratio 1:6 







♦Prepared by Normal Domestic Science Department, Drexel Institute, 
Philadelphia. 



APPENDIX 



331 



2. Dietary for Child 8 to 10 Years of Age 

Assumed weight, 60 lb. Protein, 60 grams ; 1760 Calories 

BREAKFAST 
Cream of Wheat with Dates 

Top Milk 
Glass of Milk Bread and Butter 

PENNY LUNCH 
Cocoa and Cracker 

DINNER 

Hamburg Steak 
Mashed Potato Bread and Butter Creamed Onions 

Cup Custard 

SUPPER 
Milk Toast 



Gingerbread 


Baked Apple 




Food 


Amount Protein, fffnnis 


Calories 


Cost 


Cream of Wheat 


J^cup 


3.04 


100.0 


$0,008 


Dates 


5 


0.60 


100.0 


0.008 


Bread 


5 slices 


13.20 


377.0 


0.020 


Milk 


1 pint 


16.09 


337.5 


0.040 


Cocoa 


%qt 


4.55 


124.0 


0.010 


Butter 


2 tablesps. 


0.26 


200.0 


0.020 


Steak 


2 oz. 


12.50 


65.0 


0.025 


Creamed Onions 


4 


3.20 


100.0 


0.005 


Potato 


M cup 


0.65 


25.0 


0.005 


Cup Custard 


%cup 


4.40 


100.0 


0.040 


Apple 


1 


0.25 


75.0 


0.010 


Gingerbread 


H oz. 


3.00 


50.0 


0.010 



totals 61.74 1653.5 

Nutritive ratio, 1:5:7 



$0,201 



8S2 APPENDIX 



3. Dietary {or Child 10 to 12 Years of Age 

Supplementary to Penny and Three-cent Lunches 
Assumed weight, 80 lb. Protein, 70 grams ; 1800 Calories 

BREAKFAST 

Corn Meal Mush 

Milk and Sugar 

Glass of Milk Bread and Syrup 

PENNY LUNCH 

Cocoa and Cracker 

THREE-CENT LUNCH 

Bean Soup 

Peaches 

Bread 

DINNER 
Mutton Stew with Vegetables Bread 

Rice Pudding Glass of Milk 



Pood 


Amount 


Protein 


Calories 


Cost 


Corn Meal 


3 tablesps. 


7.26 


200.0 


$0,005 


Bread 


5 slices 


13.20 


377.0 


0.025 


Milk 


1 pint 


16.09 


337.5 


0.040 


Cocoa 


% quart 


4.55 


124.0 


0.010 


Bean Soup 


% Quart 


9.91 


19'4.0 


0.010 


Peaches 


2 halves 


2.45 


145.0 


0.010 


Mutton Stew 


1 cup 


15.00 


200.0 


0.060 


Rice Pudding 


%cup 


3.16 


164.0 


0.010 


Sugar 


3 tablesps. 


0.00 


200.0 


0.010 



Totals 68.62 1941.5 $0,170 

Nutritive ratio 1 ; 6 



INDEX 



Absences, decreased, 139 

discouraged, 103 
Accounting, see Administra- 
tion Records, Cost, i54ff. 
Adenoids, 227, 231 
Administration (see Organiza- 
tion, Support), 45, 54fL, 
6off., 66, 67, 7ifL, 77fL, 8off., 
93ff., 100, I07ff., H4fT., 
I30ff., I38ff. t 143, 145, 146, 
147, i5ifL, i64fL, 168, 173, 
174, 177, 184s. 
Adulteration of foods bought 

in streets, 2481!. 
Advisory Board, 164 
Agri culture , Division of , Univer- 
sity of Minnesota, 178 
United States Department 
of, 240 
Airy, Dr., on voluntary feeding 

societies, 32fL 
Albuminuria, 228 
Alcohol, cause of malnutrition, 
214 
taxes on, 134 
use of by German chil- 
dren, 122 
Allied movements, 74, 78, 102, 

127 
Alsace-Lorraine, 118 
America, open air schools, 
188-195 



America, school lunches in, 18, 
147-183 
underfeeding, 196-210 
Amount of food, see Dietaries, 

Food Values, Menus 
Anaemia (see Malnutrition), 

extent, symptoms, etc., 2i6ff. 
Anaemic, classes for children, 

184S., 191 
Analysis, see Dietaries, Food 

Values, Menus 
Angers, pioneer town in France, 

93 

Anthropometric (see Measure- 
ments), British Association, 
69, 222 

Appetites, loss of, I24ff. 
training of, 50, 73 

Applications for meals, 55, 135, 

312,314 

Attendance, school, 16, 7iff., 

103, 132, 140 
Attention, 132, 167 
Attic space, 180 
Atwater standard of diet, 205, 

235 
Austria, 143 
Ayres, Leonard P., 68, 226 

Baden, 118 
Belgium, 145, 263 
Berlin, 101, 122 

333 



334 



INDEX 



Bibliography, 263-297 
Birkenhead, 70 
Birmingham, 32, 398:., 70 
Blood, see Anasmia 
Boston, meals in, 1648:. 

open air schools, i88ff. 

underfeeding, 203 
Bowditch, measurements, 222 
Box-office, 87 
Boys, relative height and 

weight table, 223 
Bradford, England, meals in, 
37, 46ff. 

menus in, 25311., 3i8ff. 

record blank, 312 
Breakfasts, children without, 
i2off., I96ff. 

home, 12 iff., I96ff. 

school, see Different 
Countries' Menus, etc. 
Breath, bad, 212 
Bristol, England, 70 
Brooklyn, 148 
Buffalo, 181, 200 

Caisses des Ecoles, 15, 77ff., 

81, 84, 134 
Calories (see Food Values, 
Dietaries, etc.), defini- 
tion, 239 
for one cent, 155, 166, 150 
numbers needed, 241, 243 
use of, 239ff. 
Canteen (see England, Legisla- 
tion), committees, 45, 54ff., 
63. 299, 305 
Cantines Scolaires, adminis- 
tration in, 8ifL, 93, 94ff. 



Cantines Scolaires, cost, 91ft. 
definition, 79 
educational features, 89 
extent of, 9 iff. 
home visiting, 88 
menus, 88, 258 
substitutes for, 96 
Carbohydrates (see Food 
Needs, Menus, Die- 
taries, etc.), amount 
needed, 241, 243 
composition, 236 
measurement, 239s. 
use of, 2368:. 
Caterer, 84 

Causes (see Malnutrition, Un- 
derfeeding), external, 14, 
68, 100, 123!!., 125, 131, 
I96ff. 
physiological, 204ff., 2131!. 
Cent, purchasing power, 249!!. 

value of, 155, 167 
Chapin, Dr. Robert Coit, 
investigation of working- 
men's families, 2048:. 
Charity (see Voluntary) , meals 
not, 5, 44, 80, 87, 98, 
108, 137, 198 
support of meals by, 16, 
30ff., 41,96, 103, 114 
Charlottenburg, 11 off. 
Chemical, see Dietaries, Food 

Values, etc. 
Chicago, 19, 181, 199, 202ff. 
Children (see Underfeeding, 
Malnutrition, Food 

Needs, etc.), cruelty to, 
68 



INDEX 



335 



Children, help in serving, etc., 

49, 50, 57, 73, 136, 165, 

I75,i9i 
paying, 82, 93, 119, 147Q. 

selection of, see Adminis- 
tration 
special food for delicate, 

139 

Children's Care Committees, 

72ff. 
Children's Charter, 75 
Children's Homes, 102, 105, 

115 

Child Labor, 124 

Child Welfare, the State and, 
5,6 

Christmas, relief at, 38 

Cincinnati, 173!]:. 

Classification of nutrition, 
230s. 

Classrooms, 179, 310 

Cleanliness, 58, 152, 317 

Clinic, 59 

Clothes provided, 77, 130, 133 

Coffee, drinking (see Food 
Habits), 121, i97fL, 208, 214 

Collie, Dr., testimony on un- 
derfeeding, 225 

Communal meal, 97 

Composition, see Dietaries, 
Food Values, Menus 

Compulsory education, 78, 102, 
n6, 130 
legislation, 67, 128, 133, 

146 
meals, 1408:. 
military service, 106 

Conduct, see Results 



Congestion, 18, 26, 104, 121 

Conservation, national, 66 
Control children, 48, 69, 150, 

i6off. 
Cooking classes, 144, 165 
Co-operation in administra- 
tion, 116, 172 
Correlation, see Diseases, Mal- 
nutrition, Measurements 
Cost (see Support, Administra- 
tion, etc.), in Open Air 
Schools, 1493. 
keeping down, 2538:. 
meals at, 137, 147, 173 
of meals in general, 45, 
56ff., 63ff., 8ifL, 92ff., 
119, 130, 135, 140, 145, 
149, 248ff. 
Country, children sent to, 104 
districts, meals in, 134, 

144, 177 
districts, need in, 127 
Crowley, Dr. Ralph, on die- 
taries, 47, 243, 253-256 
Cuff, Miss, Director Domestic 

Science, 253 
Cuno, Dr., German investiga- 
tions, 116, 172 

Danton, quoted, 77 

Deficit, in home food, 121, 149, 
208, 246ft". 

Degeneracy, factors making 
for, 28ff. 

Delitsch, Dr., of Plauen, on 
malnutrition, 126 

Democratic, character of can- 
tines, 87 



336 



INDEX 



Denmark, 17, 146 
Dental defects, 214 
Dessert, 149, 259 
Deterioration, fear of, 22ff. 
inquiry concerning alleged, 

25 
Diagnosis, 229ff. 
Dietaries (see Food Needs, 

Values, Menus, etc.), 

analysis, 10 1 
Bibliography, 263-271 
for different ages, 2406:. 
in different countries, 48, 

111,141,148,15411., 165, 

189, 242 
planning, 46ff., 112, 129, 

137, 141, 148, 154, 166 
proportion of foodstuff in, 

235ff. 
school, 242-247 
Dietitian, 163 
Diet Kitchen, 128 
Dinners (see Menus, Food 

Values, etc.), late, 122, 208 
Dining-rooms, 57, 129, 229, 306 
Diseases, correlation of, with 
malnutrition, 126, 227ff. 
percentage of, according 
to nutrition, 229 
Disenfranchisement, non-pay- 
ment not to cause, 45, 301 
Distance to school, 13, 124, 

131. 137. 144 
Distribution, foodstuffs (see 

Dietaries) 
meals, 56 
Don, Surgeon-General, testi- 
mony of, 24 



Dresden, 103 

Duration of meals, 40, 112, 117 

Duray, Victor, Minister of 

Public Instruction, 79 
Dyed food, 249 
Dyer, Supt. of Schools in 

Cincinnati, 168 

Ear trouble, 228 
Economy, 253, 258 
Edinburgh, 23 

Educational features of lunches, 
50, 57fL, 165 
lunches primarily, 44, 301, 

303 

value to mental defectives, 

175 

Effects, see Results 
Efficiency, physical, 205 
Eichholz, Dr., testimony of, 

27ff. 
England, Bibliography for, 
276-284 
deterioration in, 22-43 
history of school feeding, 

I5ff., 22-43 
legislation in, 41, 43-45, 

63ff., 66ff., 299-311 
malnutrition in, 23-43 
open air schools, 184 
provision of meals in, 43 
Equipment, 45, 56ff., 147, 148, 
152, i64ff., i69ff., 174, 178 
Erismann, Dr., authority on 

diet, 134, I36ff., 243 
Expenditure (see Administra- 
tion, Cost, etc.), of families 
on food, 204ff. 



INDEX 



337 



Expense, see Administration, 

Cost, etc. 
Experiments (see Results) 35, 

47-54* 69, 99, 147. i6off. 

Extent (see Underfeeding) of 
school feeding, 1*3, 14, 15, 
i6ff., 19ft., 31, 6off., 79fL, 91, 
93ff., 100, 109, no, 114, 120, 
127, 130, I3iff., 138, 143- 
146, 151, 165, i8off. 

Extra-academic activities of 
school, 72 

Families (see Home), underfed, 
204fT. 
circumstances of, 312 
Fat, deficiency of, 48, 249 
emphasis, on 48, 166, 

244fL, 257 
food value of, source of, 
etc., 237, 240, 243, 249, 

255 

for one cent, 25off. 
Fatigue, 215 

Feeding (see Nutrition) of 
infants, 26 
selective agency, 28, 29 
Fevers, 215 

Filling as adulteration, 249 
Financial, see Cost, Support, 

etc. 
Finland, 17 

Fireless cookers, 169, 173, 178 
Flushing, New York, 148 
Food (see Food Values, Menus, 
Dietaries, etc.), choice 
of, 85, 155 (see Admin- 
istration) 



Food, energy supplying, 2362. 
measurement of, 239 
mineral constituents, 238 
tissue-building, 234ff. 

Food needs, adults, 235-238 
Bibliography, 263-271 
children, 235-238, 240, 247 
different ages, 2405. 
graphic chart of, 241 

Food values (see Menus 
and Dietaries), Bibliog- 
raphy, 263-271 
consumed by families, 205 
failure to meet standard, 

lunches, planned and un- 
planned, 2482. 
taught, 58, 179 
Forced feeding, 184, 188 
Foster, Captain, of Glasgow, 

investigation by, 219 
France (see Cantines Scolaires, 
Caisses des IScoles), Bib- 
liography, 271-273 
school meals in, 15, 77-98 
Free meals, compulsory, i4off. 
in different countries, 18, 
29, 55, 66, 73, 82, 87, 
107, 108, 132, 137, 140 
investigation before giv- 
ing, 55, 73, 108 (see 
Home Visiting, Parents) 
logical culmination of free 

education, 29 
no distinction in case of 
children with, 55, 87 
Fuel, value of food, 2368:. 
Furred tongue, 212 



338 



INDEX 



Gain, see Experiments, Results, 

Measurements 
Gambling, lunch pennies, 199 
Gastpar, Dr., of Stuttgart, in- 
vestigations by, 217, 227ft., 

Gautier, Dr. Armand, food 

standards of, 241 
Germany, Bibliography, 273- 
276 
food habits of children, 

120-123 
open air schools, 185 
malnutrition in, 99ft., 

I22fT. 

school meals in, 14,99-129 
Girls, relative height and 

weight tables for, 224 
Glands, diseased, 227 
Glasgow, housing in, 219 
Great Britain, see England 
Growth (see Results), provi- 
sion for, 2335. 

Hair, rough, 212 

Halifax, 69 

Hall, Dr., of Leeds, on mal- 
nutrition, 35 

Hamburg, 103 

Hand-strength, tested, 160 

Hands washed, 58, 152 

Hastings, measurements, 222 

Heart disease, 228 

Health Board, see Medical 
Inspection, 66, no, 116 

Heat forming foods, 236s. 
lost, 237 
source of, 2332. 



Heat, units, 239 
Height (see Result, Tables), 
223, 224 
significance of, 2i8ff. 
Hereditary causes of malnu- 
trition, 214, 218 
taint, 26 
Hesse, State of, child labor 

laws, 116 
High school lunches, 14, 173 
History of school feeding move- 
ment, England, 22ff. 
France, 778. 
general, 13-21 
Germany, I02ff. 
Holland, 130ft. 
Italy, 138ft. 
Switzerland, 131ft. 
Holland, 130, 131 
Holt, Dr. Emmet, on malnu- 
trition, 227 
Home (see Follow-up Work, 
Parents), condition 
studied, 123, 159, 207 
feeding, 100, 120ft., 208, 

252 
standards raised, 57, 244 
visiting, 104, in 
Home and School Association 
in Boston, 164 
League, Philadelphia, 

I5iff- 

Home Economics Association, 
164 

Horace Mann School, meas- 
urement of children in, 222 

Housing, relation to nutrition, 
209, 219-222 



INDEX 



339 



Huber, Dr., Swiss investigator, 

132 
Hugo, Victor, starts school 

feeding in England, 15 
Hungry, underfed children not, 

35 

Hunter, Robert, author of 

"Poverty," 196 
Hutchinson, Dr., opinions on 

nutrition, 27 
Hygiene, committee, 164 

regulations for, io8ff., 

3i5ff. 
school, 16 
taught, 58, 72, 154 

Ignorance combated, 43ff. 
relation to malnutrition, 
2041!. 
Incomes (see Poverty Scales), 

and underfeeding, 2o6ff. 
Industrial schools, meals in, 
18, 24 
superior children, 24 
Inspection, see Administration, 

Medical Inspection 
Irish- American menus, 260 
children commonly under- 
fed, 28 
Italy, Bibliography, 485 

refezione scolastica, 138- 
143 

Juvenile degeneracy, influence 
of bad food on, 28 

Kaup, Dr., dietaries, 246 

Germaninvestigator, 1 1 ff. 



Kelly, Dr., Roman Catholic 
Bishop of Ross, testimony 
of, 28 
Kindergarten, 145 
Kitchen (see Equipment), cen- 
tral, 56, 108 
legislation providing for, 
299, 306 
Konstance, 118 

Labor-saving devices, 56 
Lambert, Dr., of Brighton, on 

tuberculous children, 68 
Lancet Commission, on French 

cantines, 88 
Langworthy, Dr. C. F., nutri- 
tion expert, 240 
Lechstecker, Dr., investigates 

underfeeding, 199 
Legislation, allied, 66ff. 
compulsory, 67, 133 
different countries, 17, 20, 
41-46, 66, 67, 78, 81, 
107, 117, 128, 130, 133, 
146, 183, 299-311, 313- 
3i8 
taxes, 63-65, 299s. 
Lessons, see Results 
Leipsic, 104 

Licorice, no food in, 249 
Local needs met, 84, 259 
London meals in, 36, 6 iff. 
Lunches (see Menus, Die- 
taries, Different Coun- 
tries), children's choice 
of, 44, 199, 248 
composition and cost of 
street lunch, 248ff. 



340 



INDEX 



Lung capacity, 160 
Lymphatic system, 215 

Mackenzie, Dr. Leslie, 28, 218 
McMillan, Margaret, quoted, 59 
Malnutrition (see Underfeed- 
ing and Diseases), acute, 
26, 106, 99, 100 

Bibliography, 286-290 

causes, 21 3G.. 

chronic, 26, 218 

classification, 211 

definition, 211 

extent of, see Underfeeding 

results, 126, 225ff. 

social causes, 1236:. 

symptoms, 21 iff. 

temporary, 218 
Management, see Administra- 
tion and Organization 
Manners, improvement in, 50, 

74 

Manchester, 36 

Manhattan, 148 

Massachusetts, legislation pro- 
posed, 20, l82ff. 

Maurice, Major General Fred- 
erick, on military unfitness, 
22 

Maxwell, Dr. William, Super- 
intendent of New York 
Schools, 18, 147, 201 

Meals, see Extent, Administra- 
tion, Menus 

Measurements (see Experi- 
ments, Results), Ameri- 
can standard, 222ff. 
British standard, 222 



Measurements, index of nutri- 
tion, 2l8ff. 
Medical inspection, co-opera- 
tion, 311 
committees, 30, 91, 98 
English act, 66 
France, 91 
Germany, 107, 112 
reports on nutrition, 66, 
91, 123, 200ff. 
Mental ability, increased by 
meals, 7off. 
not increased by, 71 
Mental defectives, malnutri- 
tion, 225fl. 
school meals for, 24, 174 
Mental symptoms of malnutri- 
tion, 213, 225ft*. 
Menus (see Dietaries, Food 
Values, etc.) analyzed, 

«3ff. 
Bibliography, 263-271 

in different places, 49, 85- 
89, noff., 152, 165, 170, 
174, 250ff. 
planned, in, 141, 248s. 
records, I55ff. 
specimen, 240; Appendices 

E, F, G 
unplanned, 136. 
Metchnikoff, lactic acid in 

skimmed milk, 166 
Milan, 138 
Military unfitness, England, 22 

Germany, 99, 126 
Milk (see Menus, Food Value, 
etc.), 49, 107, 166, 184, 238, 
3ii,3i6ff. 



INDEX 



341 



Milwaukee, 176, 182 
Minerals in food, 238 
Minimum wage, 75 
Minnesota, 1788:. 
Mothers (see Parents), wage 

earners, 14, 1242., 168 
Munich, 102 

Municipal (see Administra- 
tion), regulation, 107, 
no, 3i3ff. 
support, 114,115, 132,145 
Musculature, 212 

National (see Legislation), cus- 
toms, 148, 259 
Need, see Extent 
Neglect, relatively infrequent, 
124 
wilful, 68, 75, 76 
North American, Philadelphia, 

200 
Northampton, England, 69 
Norway, 145 

Numbers fed, 36, 37, 47, 57, 
6iff., 79, 9iff., 105, iogrL, 
118, 131, 144, 150, 171, 173 
Nurses, school, 54 
Nurseries, 74, 145 
Nutrition (see Food Needs, 
Malnutrition, Medical 
Inspections, Dietaries), 
classification, 21 iff. 
education in, 1298:. 
importance nationally, 24- 

29 
in school age, 27, 28, 24off. 
Nutrition laboratory, Teachers' 
College, 248 



Oatmeal, 51, 187 
Obligatory, see Compulsory 
Object of school feeding, 5, 6, 

13, i69ff., 173, 244s. 
Open Air Schools, meals in, 
i84ff. 
administration, 194 
amount of food needed, 192 
cost of food, I92ff. 
England, i85ff. 
Germany, 184 
requisites, 184 
support, 194 
United States, 188 
Organization (see Administra- 
tion, Support, Equipment) 
of meals, 31, 54, 61, 8off., 95, 
ii4ff., 117, 131, I35ff., 1432., 
I45ff., I48ff., i63fL, 172 
Overcrowding (see Housing) 
Overlapping of effort, 40 
Overwork, 215 
Oxidization, 215 

Padua, 140, 141 
Parents, absent from home, 13, 
14, 137, 208 
apply for meals, 55, 135, 

314 
delinquent, 40, 45, 124, 

300, 306 
encouraged to visit meals, 

58 
ignorance of, 44 
instruction of, 44, 58, 72, 

in, 159 

payment by, 45, 64, 83, 
in, 300, 306 



342 



INDEX 



Parents, responsibility of, 59 
visited, 55.83, in, 159 
welfare of, secondary, 6 

Paris, see Cantines Scolaires 

Parliamentary, investigations 
and reports, 17, 22, 279s. 

Pauperization, 45, 137, 143 

Penny lunch, American cities, 
I47ff. 

Penny Lunch Club, 172 

Percentage, see Underfeeding 

Periodicals, 290-292 

Permissive, character of Edu- 
cation Act, 1906, 44; Ap- 
pendices A, B 

Philadelphia, 19, 151^-, i75» 
203 

Philanthropic School Society, 
103 

Physical defects (see Diseases, 
Malnutrition), 126, 2275. 

Physical training, inquiry into, 
2 3 ff. 
Royal Commission on, 

23ff. 
recommendation regard- 
ing, 25 
Place, of meals, 117, 129, 142, 

179. 229, 306 
Play, 213, 233 
Politics. Italian municipal, 

I42ff. 

Poor, Guardians of, 5, 41, 311 
Poorest, children, 98, 91, 117, 

144 
sections, 109 
Poverty (see Causes), book, 
196 



Poverty, relation to underfeed- 
ing, 204fL 
Poverty Scale, England, 55, 64 

Germany, 129 
Preparation and service (see 
Administration, Organiza- 
tion), 45, 49, 50, 56, 64, 86, 

96, 97, 136 

Prevention of cruelty to chil- 
dren, 68 
Preventive measure, 68 
Price (see Cost), should not 

exceed, 137 
Private (see Charity, Volun- 
tary) schools, 130 
Promotion, influenced by un- 
derfeeding, 226fL 
Protein (see Dietaries, Menus, 
etc.), amount for one 
cent, 25off. 
amount needed, 235^., 243 
emphasized in school 
menus, 48, 244, 245, 257 
fuel value, 237, 240 
lacking in home meals, 48, 

2446:. 
low amount found, ii3ff., 

249 
sources, 234S:., 255s. 
starvation, 48fL 
tissue-building, 2341!. 
Provision of Meals Act, Com- 
mittee on, 3 iff. 
passage and adoption, 43ff. 
text, 43ff., Appendices A 
and B 
Prussia, 105 
Psychological Clinic, 163 



INDEX 



343 



Public Charity (see Voluntary, 
Charity, Private, etc.), 41,46 

Purpuric petechia?, 36, 213 

Purchase of food (see Adminis- 
tration), 85, 148, 171 

Pushcarts, 169, 248 

Racial standard of food, 
growth, 212, 219, 232, 2593. 
Ration (see Dietaries, Food Val- 
ues, Menus) , daily, 242s. 
proportion, 2445. 
Recipes (see Menus), 156, 

2 4 8ff., 318ft., 327ft., 330ff. 
Records (see Administration, 
Organization), 68, 86, i55fL, 
23off., 312, 314 
Refezione Scolastica, Italy, 

1382. 
Relief (see Charity, Voluntary, 
etc.), Germany, 103 
of school children's order,4i 
societies in England, 3ofL 
Religious customs, 259 
Resistance to disease, 227s. 
Responsibility of parents, see 
Parents 
of State for physical con- 
dition, 5, 6, 80 
Restaurant (see Canteens, Can- 
tines, etc.), school, 16, 44, 79, 
117, 140 
Results (see Malnutrition, Un- 
derfeeding, Disease, Ex- 
periments, Physical De- 
fects) , conduct, manners, 
lessons, 50, 58, 63, 70, 
74, 162 
medical inspection, 73 



Results, school meals, 34, 5off., 
66fl., 70, 74, 150, 162 

Retardation and malnutrition, 

226ff. 

Richards, Prof. Ellen H., 1642. 

Rickets, 228 

Ritchie, Dr. Brown, on under- 
feeding, 36, 225 

Rome, 140 

Royal Decree in Holland, 130 

Rubner, Dr. Max, nutrition 
expert, in, 127, 245 

Rumford, Count, social re- 
former, 14 

Russia, 17 

St. Paul, Minn., 181, 203 

Salaries, see Cost, Support, 
Administration 

Sanitation (see Hygiene), 108 

San Remo, 138, 142 

Scotland, 67 

School authorities, see Admin- 
istration 

School Lunch Committee, 147, 
163, 202, 207 

Schoolroom, use of, for meals, 
57, 129, 229, 306 

Self-supporting, 147, 150 

Service, see Preparation, Ad- 
ministration, etc. 

Shops, food, 44, 250 

Shut-outs, lunches for, 168 

Sill, Dr. E. Martin, investiga- 
tion in New York, 241 

Simon, Helene, German writer 
on social economy, 1276:. 

Skimmed milk, 167 



344 



INDEX 



Social, all grades represented, 

14, 55, 87, 121, 125 

legislation, 66fL, 1276:. 
reforms, allied, 101, 1276:. 
workers, 19, 120, 124, 187, 
159, 163 
Socialist, activity in Italian 
cities, 142s. 
Germany, 105 
Soup kitchens, 14, 102 
Spain, 17 

Spargo, John, 90, I97ff. 
Standard (see Nutrition, 
Menus, Dietaries, Un- 
derfeeding) of living, 

204ff. 

ration, 136, 205 

Starch, 236, 246 

Starr Centre Association, Phil- 
adelphia, 19, 157 

Sterilization of dishes, 154 

Stove in rural schools, 97, 178 

Strain of school work, 27, 53 

Street begging, 142 

food bought on, 44, 169, 
198, 248 

Stuttgart, 107, 217, 3i3ff. 

Supervision, see Administra- 
tion 

Subsidies, see Cost, Support, 
Administration 

Sugar, 167, 236 

Supplementary lunch, 190 

Support (see Cost, Administra- 
tion), statistics of, 15, 45, 

63ff-» 77, 9iff-, H4tf-> H9ff., 
I30ff., 1382., I44ff., 1473., 
170, 193s. 



Sweden, 143 
Switzerland, 131-138 
Bibliography, 292 
Symptoms, see Malnutrition 
Syracuse, open air schools, 191 

Tables, dining, 50, 57, 74, 
in 

Tables of measurements, 222ff. 
Taxes, see Legislation 
Teachers (see Administration) 
attend meals, 57, 82, 

139. 153 

not required to serve, 45, 

83, 301 
payment of, 57, 139 
reports on meals and un- 
derfeeding, 34, 51, 58, 
120, 123, 132, 167 
selection of children, 54, 

ii7» 131 

Teeth, bad, 214 

Tickets (see Administration), 

87, 108, 152, 315 
Time, Economy, 179 
Tissue (see Food, Malnutri- 
tion, Protein, Dietaries, 
etc.)i excessive breaking 
down of, 2152. 
insufficient building up, 

2I4ff. 

Tonics, 91 

Tonsig, Dr., of Padua, on 

dietaries, 141, 243 
Truancy law, 76 
Tuberculosis (see Open Air 

Schools), children with, 68, 

126, I39ff., 228 



INDEX 



345 



Underfed, see Underfeeding 
Underfeeding (see Malnutri- 
tion), American cities, 
196-211 
among mental defectives, 

225 
causes, 120-123, 1968:. 
effect, see Malnutrition 
extent of, 25, 29, 30, 34, 
46, 47, 105, 120, 125s., 
130-145, 175 
other countries, 5, 22-43, 

123-126, i3off. 
relation to income, 206 
to housing, 209, 2196:. 
Unemployment, 33, 38, 65, 

102, 124 
Uniform meal tickets, 87, 108, 

375 
Unit, food need, 205 

heat measurement, 239 
United States (see American), 

Bibliography, 292-297 
Uri, 135 

Vacation, colonies, 17, I03ff. 

loss of weight during, 53 

meals during, 62 
Vagrancy, 14, 102 



Variety, in menus, 49, 172, 155, 

256ff. 
Venice, 140 
Vercelli, 141 
Vermin, 215, 228 
Vienna, 143 
Vitality, 69, 213 
Volkswohlfahrt, Zentralstelle 

fur, 1 01 
Voluntary (see Charity and 

Relief), societies, support, 

etc., 3off., 38fL, 64ft. 

Wales, 43, 62ff. 

Wallesey, 71 

Warming, facilities for, 96, 177 

Washing up, 136, 148, 154 

Water, need, 238ft". 

Weight, see Tables, Measure- 
ments, Malnutrition 

Webb, Beatrice, quoted, 5, 6 

Wile, Dr. Ira S., on diet, 260 

Wood, Dr. Thomas D., meas- 
urements, 222 

Women's clubs, 19, 168 

Wurtemburg, 118 

Zurich, I34ff. 



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